Chinese-owned Wanda Sports Holding "played down a report on Friday that it was backing plans" to launch a club football tournament to rival the European Champions League, according to Clare Jim of REUTERS. A report in the Financial Times said that the group was "seeking support in England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany by promising more places for teams in an enlarged tournament and higher revenues from broadcasting rights." The report said that "talks had begun with Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A and that Wanda was planning to start discussions with England's Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 after the European championship which ends on Sunday." Wanda Sports said in a statement that the article might give the impression that it is "pushing for European leagues and clubs to join a new competition," using the group's market power. It added, "This impression is not accurate." The statement said that its representatives "talked regularly" to those involved in the sports industry to explore ways in which sports and business can be further developed (REUTERS, 7/8). THE DRUM's Tony Connelly reported Wanda has "confirmed that it is in talks with some of the sport’s top leagues over the creation of a new competition that would offer more places to Europe’s biggest clubs while also providing a huge boost in revenue from broadcast rights." Wanda Sports Holding Dir Marco Bogarelli revealed that the company was "already in talks with Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A." He also said that "plans were in place to begin discussions with the Premier League, Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1." Rather than enter into any form of direction competition with UEFA, Wanda "hopes to win the backing of European football’s governing body and has reportedly planned for a separate competition entirely" in the event UEFA rejects the plans. Responding to the news of the discussions, interim UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis said, "It is not the first time that there has been speculation regarding the possibility of a breakaway league, and it probably won’t be the last" (THE DRUM, 7/8).
