Top clubs agree CL shake-up

UEFA looks set to ignore pleas from fans and green-light radical changes to the Champions League which will mean 100 more matches a season.

A meeting of the European Clubs Association board has ironed out their objections to the proposals.

Before the meeting an open letter from fans to ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli (above) accused the organisation of an “indefensible power grab”.

But it looks as though there is now nothing standing in the way of the ‘Swiss model’ reforms to kick in from 2024. UEFA will control 51 per cent of the budget with the rest going directly to the game’s richest clubs.

Three extra places will go to teams with the best past record, and the teams will form one giant league.