Radical reforms in the Champions League and in the cities that host European nations… UEFA moves towards solving both problems

The European Football Association (UEFA) is heading tomorrow, Monday, at a meeting of its executive committee, to formalize the reforms linked to the Champions League, in addition to deciding the host cities of the nations of Europe. next summer with the possibility of excluding some of them from the continental championship due to the restrictions of the Corona virus.

The Champions League reform plans, which will be implemented from 2024, were due to be approved last month, but the case was postponed after the Association of European Clubs decided it was not not “able to formally approve major changes”.

According to sources close to the negotiations, some of the big clubs wanted greater control over the club competitions of UEFA, the subsidiary which advises the Confederation on commercial matters.

Amid talks about an attempt to take the reins of power by some clubs, and with the threat of the possibility of the breakaway Super League being launched by some of the big clubs, there is hope that the solution will be found.

The European Union confirmed on Friday that the reforms were high on the agenda for the meeting scheduled for Monday in the Swiss city of Montreux.

Champions League

The group stage of the European Champions League will be completely overhauled, with the number of clubs increasing from 32 to 36 and the introduction of the so-called “Swiss system” inspired by the game of chess, where clubs play 10 matches in the game. group stage instead of the current system of six, which is It divides clubs into 8 groups of 4 teams.

Under the new system, clubs play a “mini-championship” in a group, with each team playing 10 matches.

One of the four new seats is expected to be allocated to the French League, while one of the main points of contention will be how to decide on the other three seats. Publicity

The European Club Association prefers to grant new seats to champions from other leagues, while there is also a tendency to grant them to clubs based on their ranking in the Confederation, which would prefer clubs with a history in Europe. but are suffering locally, and this currently applies to clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool, the English and Borussia. Dortmund, Germany, is threatened with missing the next edition of the continental championship.

The overarching objective of the reforms is to increase the return on transfer rights for competitive matches in order to satisfy the big money-hungry European clubs, and to end the threat of the possibility of launching the separatist Super League.

Doubts about Munich, Bilbao and Dublin

Meanwhile, the European Union is due to finalize its plans for the European Cup finals next summer in 12 cities.

After the Corona virus was postponed for a year, the 2020 European Cup final is expected to open from the Olympic Stadium in Rome on July 11.

The basic plan was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Continental Championship by holding it in 12 different cities and 12 countries, but even after a year of delay, the fallout from the Corona virus is still casting a shadow over the Continental Championship. due to travel restrictions and the ban on the presence of the public in the stands.

The Confederation waited until the middle of this week to make the decision to rely “completely” on Rome to be among the host cities of the European Cup final, after the Italian capital gave guarantees that “no less than 25% ”of the crowd would. attend the Olympic stadium, which was threatened with losing the organization of its four matches in the continental championship.

Despite the health situation due to the “Covid-19” virus, the European Authority has imposed massive attendance at European Cup matches as a condition not to withdraw the organization of matches from the cities concerned by the reception.

So far, 3 of the 12 cities initially selected are threatening to withdraw the organization for failing to ensure the presence of supporters in the stadiums, namely Bilbao (Spain), Dublin (Ireland) and Munich (Germany), and a final a decision in this regard is expected at Monday’s meeting.