JPMorgan says it 'misjudged' backing European Super League


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US investment bank JPMorgan, which agreed to back the breakaway European Super League financially, said on Friday it had "clearly misjudged" the failed project's impact.

"We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future. We will learn from this," it said in a brief statement.

To get the ball rolling, JPMorgan had agreed a pot €3.5 billion ($4.2 billion) to be shared among the first dozen teams to sign up plus another three clubs that had been expected to join them.

But in the space of 48 hours this week, European football's governing body Uefa, aided by fans and politicians, quelled a mutiny by the English, Spanish and Italian clubs who presumed to form their own quasi-closed tournament.

Nine clubs, including all six in England, subsequently withdrew and even if Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid, whose president Florentino Perez led the attempted secession, are still refusing formally to capitulate, their proposal no longer looks credible.

Uefa meets on Friday with revenge on some members' minds following the attempted breakaway, while the fate of a handful of European Championship host cities is also on the agenda.

Meanwhile, Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce has praised football fans for the role they played in derailing plans for a European Super League.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Liverpool, the former Manchester United defender said: "I was like everybody else, and thankfully the 'big six' have taken a slapping, haven't they?

"It's been quite remarkable. I've never seen it so quick, the outcry over it and it was pretty obvious to everybody concerned that we ain't going to accept it, which is terrific.

"I'm a little bit biased because I played in the lower divisions for years before I got my break and if it wasn't for those lower divisions, I might not have got a break, so I'm all for the pyramid in this country, I'm all for the way it works."

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