Will UEFA soon close the book with football fairy tales? In Vienna, the executive committee of the European football power is currently considering the new format of the Champions League. The precise interpretation can have major consequences… certainly also for Belgium. Do those in power dare to roll out a copy of the Super League?
It was a dangerous plan in sheepskin, which escaped notice by a visible big bad wolf.
A few days before the Super League rocked the football world, UEFA released a new format for the Champions League from 2024. Contrary to the ideas of the “competitor”, it still seemed peaceful.
But was that really the case?
First we outline the outline of the proposed format. UEFA wants to increase the number of participants from 32 to 36. The group system will be thrown into the dustbin and will be replaced by one or two large groups, with ten matches according to the Swiss model – each team will receive a package of opponents with the same total weight.
The best eight in the final standings advance, as many others still play play-offs to get to the eighth finals.
That way, the number of matches in the Champions League would increase from 125 to 225.
Read: cash register for UEFA and the participants through more income from ticket sales and TV money.
Exclusive places under fire
But who will be allowed to participate in the lucrative championship ball in the future?
This point in particular has been the start of a silent war between the various football powers in recent months.
Of the four extra guests, one additional ticket would go to the fifth largest competition in the UEFA ranking (currently France) and also one to the champion of a country lower than 11th place. But: two pieces would also be reserved for superpowers who were unable to qualify through their own competition.
Based on the past (translated into the UEFA club coefficient), top clubs that are experiencing a dramatic season are thus offered participation in the Champions League for free.
For example, think of Manchester United this season.
Such reserved spots are very reminiscent of the exclusive wreath that the Super League had in mind. It is quite possible that UEFA will soon give in because of that thought.
Wider gap between rich and poor
Yet it already seems inevitable that the effects of the new Champions League will be the same. The gap between the rich and poor in football will only grow as national competitions erode.
After all, the increase from six to ten group matches threatens to have a significant impact on the football calendar. “And only a limited number of clubs would benefit from that,” warned Claus Thomsen, president of the European Leagues. Perhaps it will come to a compromise of eight group matches.
Only then there is the distribution of the prize money, without doubt the most sensitive item on the agenda.
Because which small club will still be able to compete if they can never taste the fat pots in the Champions League? PSG and Bayern are well out of sight of the competition abroad. The recently reformed Financial Fair Play system – beneficial for the very rich – provides some extra tailwind.
Rowing against a speedboat
In Belgium, too, there is already a huge financial gap between Club Brugge (present in the Champions League four times in a row) and the rest that have to make do with crumbs.
In Jan Breydel they will undoubtedly follow with special attention what the UEFA top will (not) decide later. Because just like every Belgian club that dreams of nesting in the European sub-top, they have to hope that the doors for the small competitions remain ajar.
Due to the dramatic year of our European representatives, even our national champions are no longer sure of a place in the Champions League in 2024.
And just then missing the UEFA speedboat, Belgium would only be left with two oars.
