UEFA Media release, 26 August 2016
During a power vacuum at the end of August 2016, the Executive Committee of UEFA adopted an important decision regarding changes to the format of the Champions League for the period 2018-2021. Spain, England, Germany and Italy would have four guaranteed places in the Champions League group stage on the grounds of their past results in this competition. This reform raises a huge controversy within the different stakeholders in European football regarding governance.
In 1991, the final of the UEFA Champions League (then called the Champions Cup) opposed Olympique de Marseille to Red Star Belgrade. Twenty-five years later, one can definitely say that the time when UEFA’s competition was based on a knockout format where the finalists are not among the most influential European clubs (sportingly and economically) reach the final, is definitely over. Although we have not yet switched to a “closed league” model (a threat often uttered by the major European clubs), we are moving closer than ever to a competition format widely promoting the most powerful European clubs at the expense of smaller clubs.[1]
For many years, the biggest European clubs have been looking to increase their safety and economic returns as part of their participation in European...
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