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Premier League reveals plan to avoid Super League repeat

Rob Pinney / Getty Images News / Getty

Owners of all 20 Premier League clubs will be required to sign a new charter preventing them from joining a breakaway league in the future.

The English top flight said Monday it's drafting a new set of regulations that, if violated, could result in "significant sanctions" for the clubs involved.

The response comes after England's top six sides attempted to form a closed-circuit Super League guaranteeing them entry every season.

"The events of the last two weeks have challenged the foundations and resolve of English football," the EPL said in a statement. "The Premier League has prepared a series of measures to enshrine the core principles of the professional game: an open pyramid, progression through sporting merit, and the highest standards of sporting integrity.

"These measures are designed to stop the threat of breakaway leagues in the future."

The league called on the U.K. government to pass legislation protecting English football's "open pyramid." Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to drop a "legislative bomb" on the six rebel clubs when the European Super League was announced last month.

Numerous fan protests have taken place across England in the days and weeks since the teams backed out of the controversial project. On Sunday, thousands of Manchester United supporters demonstrated at Old Trafford, with some breaking in and clashing with police.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have disruptive behavior, demonstrations of that kind. But on the other hand, I do understand people's strength of feeling," Johnson said Monday, according to Agence France-Presse. "And I think that it's a good thing that we have been able to do things that make it pretty clear that the European Super League is not going to be appreciated by the people of this country or by this government."

Additionally, the Football Association opened an inquiry into the Super League and requested evidence from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham.

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