The European Super League has been announced, with Florentino Perez named as the first chairman of the competition.

A joint statement was released by the 12 founding members of the competition and, in it, Perez explained why he thinks this new venture is a positive one.

“We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world,” Perez said in the statement.

“Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”

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Perez wasn’t the only leading individual to speak, as Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of Juventus who will be the vice-chairman of the Super League, did so too.

“Our 12 Founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role models,” Agnelli said.