Serie A clubs oppose Juventus-led Champions League plan

Most of the clubs in the Italian league have opposed Champions League reform ideas pushed by Ju vent us chairman Andrea Ag n elli to close off entries to the competition.

The league said that a “significant majority” of the 20-team S erie A refused to support a proposal for changing Uefa club competitions in 2024 that the Agnelli-led European Club Association wants.

S erie A said only Juventus backed the plan at a league meeting in Milan. AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Fiorentina abstained.

Italy joins the other big-five leagues in England, Spain, Germany and France whose members opposed the E CA plan. The plan seeks guarantees for 24 of 32 Champions League group teams to return the following season. That would reduce end-of-season intrigue in domestic leagues.

“We firmly believe that qualification for Uefa club competitions should be based only and exclusively on clubs’ performances in the domestic championship,” said the Italian league, adding that “any semi-closed model will en danger the value of national competitions.” The ECA concept circulating since March calls for eight-team groups instead of four.

That would guarantee clubs more revenue from Uefa for playing 14 games before the knockout rounds instead of the current six.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has called a meeting on 11 September with the ECA and European Leagues group, which has fiercely opposed the clubs’ core idea.