UEFA to restructure current Champions League format
UEFA is considering a restructuring of Europe’s top competition the UEFA Champions League. There are several plans that have been suggested but nothing concrete has been decided upon yet according to a spokesperson from The Guardian who has been in constant touch with officials working on the proposals.
The proposal has been taken into consideration after concerns were raised by several continental clubs about the gap in revenue between English clubs and the rest of Europe. The restructuring will imply that the group stage will consist of fewer number of teams and will mean less involvement of smaller teams.
This means that there will be more clashes between big teams at an a earlier stage in the competition which will result in a more revenue generated from the games instead of having matches like Real Madrid playing Bate Borisov that would not garner many viewers.
The Champions League is currently under contract with TV broadcasters until 2018 hence it would be difficult to introduce a new format during this time period. The most common suggestion for the revised competition will be a group stage consisting of only 16 teams instead of the current 32 with the elite clubs getting a direct berth.
A UEFA spokesperson told The Guardian,” Uefa is in constant contact with all stakeholders, including the clubs, on all football matters. Therefore, any plans to evolve the format of our club competitions would be coordinated and negotiated together with them. There are currently no concrete proposals on the table since we are at the beginning of a new cycle (2015-18) of our club competitions”
Implications of European Super League
The possibility of a European Super League was discussed between the executives of the ‘Big 5’ clubs of the Premier League and chairman of Relevent Sports Charlie Stillitano, a US organisation that conducts the International Champions Cup.
Stillitano discussed the implications of having a Super League which only consisted of the Elite clubs from each league saying, “What would Manchester United argue: did we create soccer or did Leicester create [it]?”
“Let’s call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester? It’s a wonderful, wonderful story – but you could see it from Manchester United’s point of view, too. It’s the age-old argument: US sports franchises [which do not have relegation] versus what they have in Europe.”