More chaos on the UEFA horizon
They need to finalise ongoing discussions
UEFA have delayed by a month a vote on the introduction of their new over-blown 36-team Champions League format.
It had been expected that a revamped competition, to take place between 36 teams, four more than at present, would be put through at today’s meeting of the executive committee.
However, the battle for the spoils from such a move continues apace and UEFA put out a clarification yesterday saying the final decision would not take place until the committee meets again on April 19 “in order to finalise ongoing discussions.”
The new format, set to come into place when the new broadcast deals begin in 2024, involves the “Swiss system” of teams playing selected opponents of varying quality in a league format to generate a final table. More controversially, two of the places will be granted to the most successful European clubs historically which have not qualified by right.
With country quota systems in place, the Premier League fear the lowest-ranking qualifiers will find themselves booted out by traditionally bigger clubs who finish the season lower than them, thus diminishing the importance of domestic football in England.At the same time, the European Club Association are eager to have a bigger say in how commercial rights are managed, with the bigger clubs looking to claim a larger slice of the pie.
The changes proposed by UEFA in their ‘Horizon 2024’ package amounted to the biggest shift in the competition for decades.
UEFA had proposed an increase from 32 to 36 teams, with clubs competing in one league rather than eight groups of four.
Each side would play 10 matches under the so-called Swiss model against teams of varying strength, with the top eight sides in the final league table qualifying, with the others involved in playoffs to find the other eight teams to make up a final 16.
If Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City win this year’s Champions League they will play 13 matches. Under the new format it would rise to 17.
It gives organisers the headache of scheduling 225 Champions League matches into a calendar already packed with 125 games.