MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) — Twelve of Europe’s top clubs announced on Sunday they were launching a breakaway Super League, headed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The move, which has been heavily criticized by soccer authorities and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, sets up a rival to UEFA’s Champions League competition.

Six clubs from England’s Premier League — Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur feature among the founding members, along with Spain’s Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and Italy’s Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan, the organization, called Super League, said in a statement.

The league plans to launch “as soon as practicable” and the founding clubs will be given $3.5 billion “to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic,” the statement said.

Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Pritha Sarkar