Love triangle: ELF says there is “no room for three leagues” while EFA and AFLE keep dating the same fanbase

European professional football has reached the part of the romantic comedy where everyone insists they are the sensible one, nobody has fully moved out, and the group chat is definitely on fire. The headline line comes from the European League of Football itself: CEO Zeljko Karajica told Foot Bowl that “there’s no room for three leagues.” He also said the ELF is talking about nine teams, has sent a schedule to teams it believes are eligible to play in the ELF, and intends to enforce contractual rights against some clubs now attached publicly to EFA or AFLE projects.

That is the ELF side of the love triangle: contracts, deadlines, partners, and the argument that the original house still has the TV furniture. Pigskin Europe has therefore cut the ELF league page back from the old 16-team 2025 list. For 2026, we are only listing the teams that ELF has publicly announced/confirmed in its own recent article stream so far: Raiders Tirol, Frankfurt Galaxy, Prague Lions, Paris Musketeers and Madrid Bravos. The league has talked about nine, but “talking about nine” is not the same as a final fixture list with nine settled participants.

EFA, meanwhile, is presenting itself as the calmer partner with a spreadsheet and a shared governance vocabulary. Its own site says “Six Teams. thirteen weeks. One Mission.” The published 2026 schedule reporting has the field at six: Frankfurt Galaxy, Munich Ravens, Nordic Storm, Paris Musketeers, Prague Lions and Raiders Tirol. That is far smaller than the broad eleven-club EFA association list from earlier split announcements, so Pigskin has updated the EFA page to show the current 2026 playing field rather than the larger political family tree. Madrid Bravos are specifically reported as not playing the EFA season.

AFLE is the third corner of the triangle and, at the moment, the one with the most straightforward public calendar. AFLE says its inaugural season starts May 23, runs 51 games across 16 weeks, and ends with the Gold Bowl in Duisburg on September 6. Its current eight-team lineup is Berlin Thunder, Rhein Fire, Vienna Vikings, Panthers Wrocław, Alpine Rams, Paris Lights, Firenze Red Lions and London Warriors. That last name matters: Pigskin had the placeholder “London Football Team”; AFLE has since announced the London Warriors name and logo, so that has been corrected.

The satire writes itself, but the practical point is serious for fans. Rhein Fire, Vienna Vikings, Berlin Thunder and Panthers Wrocław now sit on AFLE’s public board. Frankfurt, Munich, Nordic Storm, Paris, Prague and Raiders Tirol sit on the current EFA schedule. The ELF says some clubs have ongoing contracts and that fragmentation weakens everyone. Everyone is promising stability. Everyone is also, in one way or another, explaining why their ex should still answer the phone.

So the fairest current status is not “three finished leagues.” It is: AFLE scheduled with eight, EFA scheduled/reported with six, and ELF disputed/announcing in stages while arguing there is no room for all three. The fans, naturally, are asked to bring patience, a calendar pencil, and perhaps a couples therapist with a whistle.