Fan group pressures UEFA ahead of today’s Champions talks

A European soccer fan group urged UEFA and club leaders on Monday to overturn some of the changes to the Champions League due in 2024, and described other ideas as ”juvenile daydreams.”

The Uefa-recognized Football Supporters Europe group stepped up its opposition ahead of upcoming meetings involving the European Club Association and UEFA. Proposals were agreed to last year to use clubs’ historical record in European competitions to award two Champions League entries in 2024 when it would expand to 36 teams playing 10 games each instead of six. But UEFA reached that deal with clubs as they were plotting to launch the Super League project that quickly failed, and the details were open to be revisited.

The FSE fan group wants those details — the historical “coefficient” entries and 10 guaranteed games — to be overturned today after the UEFA club competitions committee and executive committee meet in Austria.“your decision will shape the game for a generation,” the FSE said in a statement targeting UEFA and ECA officials. The 250-member ECA, whose board met Monday, and UEFA have not officially commented on talks that could lead to decisions today.

Champions League entries are set to be worth tens of millions of dollars to each club taking part, with forecasts of about 40% rise in total revenue for UEFA club competitions starting in 2024. Fans fear Champions League money will further widen the wealth and competitive balance gaps in European soccer, reduce interest in domestic leagues and add costs in time and money for supporters to follow their teams.