Report: UEFA ‘on the brink’ of deal with clubs over Champions League

The Times have revealed that UEFA are on the brink of abandoning their plans to modify the format of the Champions League after supporters across Europe opposed their proposal.

UEFA originally proposed the idea to hand two places in the Champions League to teams who finished outside of the qualification spots in their domestic league, based on the teams’ historic success in the competition.

According to the proposal, teams with the highest co-efficient points accrued over the last five seasons, who finished outside the qualification spots, would gain entry into the tournament.

UEFA also wanted to expand the competition to include 10 group matches per team rather than the six in the current format.

However, the group, Football Supporters Europe, underlined their opposition to the plans, describing them as ‘fundamentally unfair and anticompetitive’ and against the ‘principles of sporting merit’.

The statement was reportedly signed by 38 groups and fan representative bodies across 14 different European countries.

It is explained that UEFA have now abandoned their plan in a meeting of their executive committee, held in Vienna, with the European Club Association now considering alternative proposals.

However, it is revealed that the competition could be expanded from 32 to 36 teams in 2024, with the number of matches in the group phase of the new format set to go up from six to eight per team.

Spurs Web Opinion

The opposition to the European Super League was completely understandable as the proposal for the breakaway competition was a clear attempt to safeguard the position of the elite. However, I am not convinced that the proposals made by UEFA to hand entries to two teams based on their coefficient, are unfair.

If a team like West Ham or Leicester reach the Champions League semifinal but fall off in the league as they do not have the squad to compete on two fronts due to their economic limitations, I think it would be fair to give them another crack at the Champions League. The idea that this proposal only benefits the rich clubs is obviously untrue.

Besides, the Premier League seems to be improving in terms of quality, in comparison to the other leagues, on an annual basis. It is unfair that only a maximum of four teams from England would be allowed into the Champions League even though teams who finish in 6th or 7th in England are considerably better than teams who finish fourth in Germany, Italy or France.

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