European Super League Promoters Seek UEFA's Approval for Unity League

LONDON (Reuters) - The promoters of a proposed European Super League have approached UEFA and FIFA to recognise their new competition they say will be rebranded as The Unity League.

It is the latest attempt by A22 to get the competition off the ground after the original European Super League was controversially launched in 2021 only for support to collapse.

"A key feature is a revised qualification system in which club participation is based on annual, domestic league performance," A22 said in a statement on Tuesday outlining the plan for the 96-club competition split into four leagues.

A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said the proposed new competition would help address challenges in soccer such as rising subscription costs, insufficient investment in women's football and dissatisfaction with the format and governance of the current pan-European competitions.

"Our proposal is designed to directly address these challenges," Reichart said.

The European Court of Justice ruled last December that European governing body UEFA had abused its dominant position in helping to block the initial plans for the competition in 2021.

A backlash against the original breakaway competition in which 12 clubs signed up resulted in all six Premier League clubs involved pulling out.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)