UEFA gives more power to the elite

UEFA’s bad idea factory rumbles on. From next season, transferred players will no longer be cup-tied in European competition. Instead, clubs will be allowed to register three new players after the group stages of the Champions League and Europa League ‘without any restrictions’. What does this mean? Well, it makes it far more appealing for a buying club to force through a January transfer, knowing that the player is not limited having already played in European competition. As the draw for the knockout round will already have been made, a club could even weaken an opponent, if so inclined. Say Liverpool had drawn Barcelona this year. The appeal of buying Philippe Coutinho would have been even greater. As it was, the fact that he was

cup-tied in European competition could have been Liverpool’s best chance of keeping him until the summer had they wished, despite Barcelona’s huge financial advantage. Doing away with cup-tie restrictions removes the last sliver of protection smaller clubs have against raiders — but since when did UEFA care about that?