UEFA, the European football governing body, is currently considering some major changes to the format of the Champions League. The main modification will be that all the top four teams from Europe's top four leagues will qualify automatically for the group stage of the competition. Those top four leagues are the top flights in England, Germany, Spain and Italy.
UEFA is now willing to make those changes because they are afraid that Europe's top clubs might get together and form a competition of their own, an European Super League. The changes will most likely be applied from the start of the 2018-2019 season. The main reason of discontent was that top clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United or AC Milan won't take part in this season's Champions League, and they will be also missing out on an important source of revenue.
Several meetings have been held between UEFA and club representatives over the past few months. The ideas that emerged from those meetings will be discussed and submitted for approval in the ECA (European Club Association) general assembly in Geneva on 5 and 6 September. Then the proposals will be taken before the Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens on September 14-15, an important meeting where the next UEFA president will be elected.
Barcelona are the top favourites to win the Champions League this season, they are 3/1 at Bet365 to clinch the trophy.
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Comments (1)
sharpe
08/21/16, 11:08:56 PM
The pressure over UEFA from the leading clubs in Europe is not something new, I guess UEFA would do anything to keep them happy, maybe even top 6 from those leading...
The pressure over UEFA from the leading clubs in Europe is not something new, I guess UEFA would do anything to keep them happy, maybe even top 6 from those leading leagues would qualify for the CL or something similar. Only future could tell but I guess pressure wont stop here.
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