Even though United qualified for this season's Champions League by finishing fourth - and may have to do so again after slipping to fifth - Van Gaal said: 'Everybody knows when you follow my career that I am against the Super League and something like that.

Stillitano revealed that European soccer's governing body has been keen on working with the ICC, which already attracts some of the world's wealthiest teams to compete in games across the globe for a lucrative but meaningless prize.

Joining forces with Relevent's ICC would now be incompatible with UEFA's existing sponsorships.

Greek official Theodore Theodoridis was on Friday unveiled as interim general secretary at UEFA's executive committee in Nyon, replacing Gianni Infantino who was last week elected the new Federation Internationale de Football Association president.

Representatives from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs met with a leading American sports executive this week about a possible shake-up of the Champions League.

A club spokesman told the Press Association news agency: "Not Arsenal, nor any clubs at the meeting, are seeking changes to the Premier League and European landscape and no conversations surrounding displacing the Premier League or starting a European Super League took place". "I think it's important that every country has its own domestic competition and that you arrive in the Champions League for the merits from the whole season".

On Tuesday, Charlie Stillitano, the business partner of the Miami Dolphins' billionaire owner Stephen Ross, hosted talks with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

The Premier League declined to comment. International Champions Cup organisers Relevent Sports and Catalyst Media Group are both part of sports investment group RSE Ventures, of which Ross is co-founder and chairman. "Did we create football or did Leicester?", said Stillitano.

Talking about what he called the "money pot created by soccer", he asked: "Who has more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester?"

Manchester United are now level on points with City in fifth place, having played a game more, after Juan Mata's 83rd-minute free-kick secured a 1-0 home win over Watford.

Arsenal were hoping to bounce back from Sunday's defeat at Manchester United and Joel Campbell firing them ahead but goals from Wayne Routledge and Ashley Williams gave Swansea three vital points in their bid to move away from trouble.

United are England's richest club, having won 20 league titles and in 1998-99 becoming the first English club to achieve the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

However, some of those clubs involved have since stressed that any idea of a so-called Super League was not raised - with Arsenal announcing they are "strongly opposed" to the formation of a breakaway league. "There are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful elements to relegation and promotion and there are good arguments for a closed system".

Clinton now faces struggle to win back younger voters
DFLers have 93 delegates to the Democratic National Convention; 77 will be allocated according to the Tuesday caucus results. The Democratic contests award delegates in proportion to the vote, meaning that even the loser wins some delegates.


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