Inter could yet face legal action after they withdrew from the European Super League project, according to a report in the UK.

The Nerazzurri were one of nine clubs to abandon the floundering franchise on Wednesday after the plans were condemned by fans, politicians, players and rival clubs.

Documents leaked to the Financial Times have revealed that ‘legal risks remain’ for Inter and the other departing clubs, who all signed ‘binding contracts’ to take part in the Super League.

“The remaining Super League clubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus) have the option to sue those who are quitting in an attempt to enforce the deal, and it remains unclear what liabilities the clubs face for choosing to withdraw,” the report explained.

While Inter are therefore not entirely in the clear yet – although it seems unlikely their counterparts would take such drastic action – they would have faced a far heavier sanction if they had abandoned the project once it had already started.

Clubs would have had financial liabilities worth ‘hundreds of millions of euros’ in that instance, having signed up to punitive ‘exit clauses’ designed to keep them in the competition once money was raised to fund it.

Super League clubs would also have been asked to pay back the money they received in the initial ‘infrastructure grant’ which was provided by JP Morgan, worth €3.25bn and intended to be shared between the 15 founding clubs (once another three had joined).

The sanctions relating to exit clauses appear dependent on money flowing to the teams, which never happened because the project was only announced three days ago.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid joined Inter in pulling out of the Super League between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.