Sunday's announcement by 12 of Europe's most powerful clubs they intend to set up a breakaway Super League rocked the football world.
The European Super League will be a midweek competition to rival Uefa's Champions League and will start "as soon as is practicable", according to a joint statement by its 12 founding members, who will govern the league.
The announcement has been met by widespread criticism, with the 12 clubs accused of "greed" and "the most unprecedented power grab in the history football".
Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president who has been elected chairman of the breakaway league, has defended the group's actions, and accused Uefa of holding a "monopoly" on European football.
Uefa says it is is working to ban the clubs and their players from its competitions "as soon as possible".
Who are the 12 founding members of the ESL?
Six Premier League clubs, and three each from Italy and Spain, make up the initial dozen to sign up to the European Super League. In alphabetical order they are AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.
The new league hopes to persuade three more founding members to join and for five other clubs to be invited annually, though Perez claimed Paris Saint-Germain have not been invited.
The clubs, most of them saddled with debt and large wage bills, and hit hard by the pandemic, stand to benefit financially, with predictions that they will share billions of euros.
Wall Street giant JP Morgan confirmed on Monday that it was financing the new venture.
Below is a brief profile of each club its ranking in the Forbes richest football clubs list, and achievements domestically and in Europe.
The 12 European Super League teams
1. AC Milan (Italy), Value: $559 million
18 Serie A titles; 7 Champions League titles, 2 Cup Winners' Cups
2. Arsenal (England), Value: $2.8 billion
13 English league titles; 1 Cup Winners' Cup
3. Atletico Madrid (Spain), Value: $1 billion
10 La Liga titles; 3 Europa League titles, 1 Cup Winners' Cup
4. Barcelona (Spain), Value: $4.76 billion
26 La Liga titles; 5 Champions League titles, 4 Cup Winners' Cups
5. Chelsea (England), Value: $3.2 billion
6 English league titles; 1 Champions League, 2 Europa League, 2 Cup Winners' Cup
6. Inter Milan (Italy), Value: $743 million
18 Serie A titles; 3 Champions League, 3 Uefa Cups
7. Juventus (Italy), Value: $1.95 billion
36 Serie A titles; 2 Champions League, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 3 Uefa Cup
8. Liverpool (England), Value: $4.1 billion
19 English league titles; 6 Champions League, 3 Uefa Cups
9. Manchester City (England), Value: $4 billion
6 English league titles; 1 Cup Winners' Cup
10. Manchester United (England), Value: $4.2 billion
20 English league titles; 3 Champions League, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 1 Europa League
11. Real Madrid (Spain), Value: $4.75 billion
34 La Liga titles; 13 Champions League, 2 Uefa Cups
12. Tottenham Hotspur (England), Value: $2.3 billion
2 English league titles; 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 2 Uefa Cups
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Queen
Nicki Minaj
(Young Money/Cash Money)
Match info:
Leicester City 1
Ghezzal (63')
Liverpool 2
Mane (10'), Firmino (45')
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 435hp at 5,900rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,800-5,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Price: from Dh498,542
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What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
