LONDON (AP) — LONDON (AP) — All six English clubs have dramatically abandoned plans to join a breakaway Super League, threatening to implode the project by a group of elite English, Spanish and Italian clubs less than two days after it was announced.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Tottenham have deserted the 12-team project amid an escalating backlash that saw the government warn of legislating to stop the breakaway competition.

MORE: What is the Super League? And why are many fans so upset about its formation?

The new league formation aims to bring the best and richest soccer clubs from across Europe into a set league of 20 teams.

The league would immediately supplant the Champions League as the world’s most competitive soccer league.

After Chelsea and City announced they were quitting the Super League, Liverpool players advocated they were "staying within the open European competitions."

Liverpool, which the Boston Red Sox investment group owns, issued a statement which said that their "involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League had been discontinued."