JP Morgan has distanced themselves from the failed breakaway Super League in a Bloomberg interview but did not rule out future finance deals in the game.
The failed breakaway league crumbled spectacularly over the course of Monday and Tuesday in the face of relentless public opposition.
The Super League project has been described as a 'tsunami of shit' from a communications point by Matt Lawton this week.
Daniel Pinto had one of the best seats in the house for the short-lived Super League as his firm was due to finance the project.
"We arranged a loan for a client. It’s not our place to decide the optimal way for football to operate in Europe and the U.K.," said JPMorgan Chase co-president Daniel Pinto.
He broke his silence on the Super League in a Bloomberg “Front Row” interview https://t.co/DcG2NW5LMq pic.twitter.com/JDx6GjPFrZ— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) April 23, 2021
"It is football, it is very emotional," admitted a visibly uncomfortable Pinto in response to a question about the image damage to the firm in an interview with Bloomberg.
"I don't think there is reputational damage here... We were expecting this to be emotional,” Pinto told Bloomberg
“We arranged a loan for a client. It’s not our place to decide the optimal way for football to operate in Europe and the U.K.
"We hope that The Super League, FIFA, UEFA, the National leagues get together and decide what is the way.
"This Super League way or any other way, then from there hopefully it will be better for the game in the future.
"If through that process this deal happens or there is any other way we can support football in the region, we will do it."
Had the Super League panned out, JPMorgan stood to earn millions of dollars in fees and interest payments. Now, Pinto has to manage any fallout that may extend to the bank.
“It is clear we misjudged the magnitude of feeling that this deal would create, and we will learn from this experience as a company,” he said in a statement Thursday. “In the end, football fans were heard loud and clear, and that’s what matters most.”
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