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Merely 48 hours after announcing their intentions of joining the European Super League, all six Premier League clubs involved in the breakaway league — Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur — have announced that they have withdrawn from the competition.
There has been widespread backlash from supporters, ex-players, and others from all over the world over the last two days. This includes protests in front of the stadiums of all six clubs from the fans.
The immense criticism received by the clubs led them to call for an emergency meeting on Tuesday which led to all Premier League clubs pulling out of the competition.
While Chelsea were rumoured to be the first to initiate the process of withdrawing, much to the delight of the hundreds gathered outside Stamford Bridge in protest of the ESL, Manchester City were the first to put out a statement.
This was then followed by official statements of confirmation from United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, and Chelsea. The Blues were the last to release their statement, with the delay being caused due to their Premier League commitments on Tuesday night
Following the departure of the six English clubs, LaLiga Santander side Atletico Madrid followed suit by leaving the ESL, along with AC Milan and Internazionale. All three clubs put out their official statements on Wednesday.
Juventus became the latest club to release a statement announcing that they're set to pull out amidst pressure from supporters. Their statement read;
"While Juventus remains convinced of the soundness of the project’s sport, commercial & legal premises, it believes that at present there are limited chances that the project will be completed in the form originally conceived."
This leaves Barcelona and Real Madrid as the only two clubs remaining in the ESL and are expected to release statements regarding the future of the competition.
The news of the ESL's suspension has been well received by athletes all across the continent, and here, we take a look at some of the best tweets from notable sports figures.
