This file photo dated on April 21, 2021 shows the logo of Italian Serie A football club Juventus at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (PHOTO / AFP)

Juventus have initiated the procedure to pull out of the European Super League (ESL) project, the Italian club said on Thursday.

Juventus said they had started a discussion on their exit with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the other clubs remaining in the project.

"Following such discussions, and given the existing discrepancies on the interpretation of the relevant contractual terms applicable to the Super League Project, Juventus confirms that it has initiated the procedure to exit," the Serie A club said.

Juventus said their exit would be completed and effective only if authorized by Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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Football supporters demonstrate against the proposed European Super League outside of Stamford Bridge football stadium in London on April 20, 2021, ahead of the English Premier League match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion. (ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)

Former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, one of the figures behind the ESL project, was given a 16-month ban from football on Monday in a case about irregularities in the club's payments to players.

Agnelli and the entire board resigned from the Turin club in November.

The breakaway Super League was formed in April 2021, when 12 of Europe's top football clubs launched a bid to wrest control of the game and its lucrative revenue away from European soccer governing body UEFA.

READ MORE: Europe's rebel soccer league collapses after fans demand exit

The move collapsed within 48 hours amid fan and player criticism that forced Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to pull out.