Carabao Cup will remain England’s project, say Uefa
Uefa have said it will remain up to the English authorities to make decisions regarding the future of the Carabao Cup.
The expansion of Uefa’s club competitions next season will add further complication and congestion to the calendar.
It had been hoped the Carabao Cup may be slimmed down – and FA Cup replays scrapped – if the Premier League and the EFL reach a deal on extra funding, but that appears further away after top-flight clubs failed to make an offer at their meeting on Monday, with the focus instead on agreeing new financial rules.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has said the Carabao Cup should be scrapped, but its deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti said yesterday that any changes – and whether the winners should still qualify for Europe – would be a matter for England’s authorities.
“We organise our own competitions and try to be extremely respectful of what the leagues and associations decide in their own territory,” he said.
“(National associations and leagues) know what is best for their country. The qualification is locked for the League Cup winner, we decided a long time ago.
“It would be harsh for Uefa to clamp down and say ‘no way, stop this’. If this cup is important in the English ecosystem, it’s not for Uefa to step in. It’s been decided for 20 years. (If ) England one day say ‘we don’t need it any more’ there is no reason for Uefa to make another decision.”
Champions League and Europa League group phases will now run into January, which had previously been reserved for domestic competitions, creating an increased chance of clashes. Uefa general secretary Theodore Theodoridis added: “We don’t want to involve ourselves in domestic issues. Our role is to try to accommodate and coexist with existing domestic competitions.”