sport news Fans force UEFA to abandon plans to hand Europe's richest clubs access to the ... trends now
Pressure from football fans across Europe has forced UEFA to finally abandon plans to allow the continent’s richest clubs to access the Champions League based on past performance.
UEFA originally proposed the idea to hand two places in the prestigious competition to teams that finished outside of qualification spots in their domestic leagues, based on success in European competition during the previous five seasons.
It could have meant that from 2024, a team would be bumped up from the Europa League into the lucrative Champions League, without having earned it in competition, and leapfrogging rivals in the process.
UEFA has been forced to abandon some of the proposed reforms to the Champions League
The proposal, based on a club's UEFA ranking or coefficient, has always been seen by fans, less well-off clubs and European Leagues, as an attempt to appease the rich and powerful.
It would ‘reward underperforming elite’ teams it was claimed, thereby consolidating even more power among already wealthy clubs.
Now, UEFA has bowed to overwhelming opposition to the plan and abandoned it at a meeting of its executive committee, held in Vienna, today.
Instead, English clubs could benefit from a fifth Champions League place based on European performance, with two places set to be awarded to clubs from the countries who collectively performed best in Europe in the previous season.
If applied to next season that would mean England gaining an extra spot, along with Holland.
In addition, while the European governing body has agreed to expand the competition from 32 to 36 teams from 2024, it will restrict the number of matches in the group phase of the new format to eight, two more than currently played, but less than the 10 originally proposed.
Protected access for the richest and most successful clubs has been a point of controversy
Prior to the meeting, the umbrella group, Football Supporters Europe, underlined the opposition to the plans, describing them as ‘fundamentally unfair and anticompetitive’ and against the ‘principles of sporting merit’.
The statement was signed by 38 groups and fan representative
