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Premier League facing closure due to European Super League plans

A European Super League is a step closer to being formed after the commitment of several heavyweights to the proposal.

The Sun says anxious Premier League officials are aware of the proposals and monitoring developments.

The Euro revolution would see the creation of three divisions - each with 20 teams.

England's Big Four - Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal - would be in the top division, forced to play 38 European games alone.

That would rule out any chance of them competing in the Premier League as well and would therefore spell the end of English football as we know it.

Premier chief executive Richard Scudamore has been alerted and would fiercely resist any moves to either abolish the Premier or reduce its size to accommodate extra European fixtures.

But that resistance could force English competitors in a European League to withdraw from the Premier League altogether.

The idea, believed to be the brainchild of AC Milan, is to scrap the Champions League and UEFA Cup in favour of the new competition.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas let the cat out of the bag when he briefed the French media of the talks following his team's elimination from the Champions League last week.

But Premier League observers are convinced it could be years before all the problems are ironed out.

One source told The Sun: "No one has any idea how this proposal would work.

"How would teams qualify? How would they decide on promotion and relegation? How many teams would be eligible from each country? How do you fit in all the games?

"It wouldn't be in the interests of any English team to leave the Premier League to play in a European competition. Manchester United fans would much rather watch their team playing against Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham than they would against Alkmaar, Porto and Zenit St Petersburg.

"English teams are dominating in Europe because of the collective strength and wealth of the Premier League.

"They would not want to jeopardise that by going it alone to play in a closed-shop competition created by European teams looking for guaranteed protection against failure to qualify for the Champions League."

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