With Manchester City being one of the 12 clubs involved in the European Super League, Guardiola has shared his views.
Pep Guardiola is opposed to the idea of closed competition, insisting it is ‘not a sport’ when certain clubs cannot be promoted or relegated.
Guardiola’s Manchester City, of course, is one of the six Premier League sides to become one of the 12 founding clubs for the breakaway European Super League competition.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham are other five English clubs involved.
Making up the final six founding members is Guardiola’s former club Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan
Amid widespread criticism over the competition, however, Guardiola has expressed his concerns over its integrity.
🗣️ "It is not sport if the relationship between the effort and reward doesn't exist."
🗣️ "It is not sport if it doesn't matter if you lose"
Pep Guardiola shares his thoughts on the European Super League pic.twitter.com/Qy7gJMYdUW
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 20, 2021
Speaking in a press conference, Guardiola said: “If you ask me why these teams have been selected, I don’t know why.
“It is not sport when the relation between effort and success doesn’t exist.
“So it’s not a sport.
“It’s not a sport if the success is already guaranteed or if it doesn’t matter if you lose.
“That’s why I said many times I want the best competition to be as strong as possible, especially the Premier League.
“It’s not fair when one team fight, fight, fight, arrive at the top and after can’t be qualified because the success is already guaranteed just for a few clubs.
“In this statement, this is what I feel. I don’t know if it’s going to change and maybe four or five teams can go up in this competition. But what happens in the last 14, 15 teams play not a good season and every time will still be there.
“This is not a sport, and it’s another issue.”
Guardiola spoke ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.
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