Liverpool players add voices to growing Super League opposition

(Reuters) - Liverpool's players added their voices to growing opposition to the proposed European Super League on Tuesday, with captain Jordan Henderson and others sharing their concerns on twitter.

Twelve of Europe's top football clubs announced on Sunday they were launching a breakaway Super League in the face of widespread opposition from within the game and beyond.

Liverpool are among the six Premier League teams who signed up for the new competition, though Manchester City said on Tuesday that they had enacted procedures to withdraw and Chelsea were reported by local media to also be pulling out.

"We don't like it and we don't want it to happen," Henderson tweeted, with many of his team mates posting the same message. "That is our collective position. Our commitment to this club is absolute and unconditional. You'll Never Walk Alone."

Former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish, who enjoys iconic status at the Merseyside club, also took to twitter to encourage the club to withdraw from the process.

"The last few days have been difficult for everyone who loves Liverpool Football Club and I really hope we do the right thing," he posted.

As opposition snowballed, Swiss watchmaker Tribus, which describes itself as the "official global timing partner of Liverpool FC" said it was ending its sponsorship as it could not support the move by the club's owners to enter the Super League.

"Our values are at the forefront of everything we do therefore we are withdrawing from this partnership. Football belongs to the fans and unites us all; it was never intended to benefit the few," the company said on its twitter account.

The Super League, whose founders include three Spanish clubs including Real Madrid and three from Italy, argues that it would increase revenues to the top clubs and allow them to distribute more money to the rest of the game.

However, the sport’s governing bodies, other teams and fan organisations say it will increase the power and wealth of the elite clubs and the partially closed structure of the league goes against European football's long-standing model.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Mitch Phillips and Ken Ferris)