After a furious backlash against the proposed tournament that was announced on Sunday, all six Premier League clubs involved withdrew.

“We’re going to continue working,” said Perez. “The project is on standby.”

Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus have not withdrawn, although Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli said the project could not now proceed.

“You cannot get out of the contract like this – they are binding contracts,” he added.

When asked what the penalty was for leaving the project, Perez did not answer.

Perez reiterated his view that the ESL was created “to save football”, has also previously said the move had been made because young people were “no longer interested in football” because of “a lot of poor quality games”.

He added he was “sad and disappointed” by the reaction to the project, which the clubs have been working on “for around three years”.