The UEFA Executive Committee today approved a new format for
its club competitions just hours after the European Super League bombshell.
On Sunday, it was confirmed 12 clubs had already signed up to
form the new competition to rival the Champions League.
And
now Uefa has revealed a shake-up of their own while also hitting out at the
‘self-selected cartel’ who opted to form their own breakaway tournament.
A
statement from the governing body read: “The Uefa Executive Committee today
approved a new format for its club competitions as of the 2024-25 season.
Details
of the new format
The
Champions League will now welcome 36 teams rather than 32, with each team
playing a minimum of TEN group stage games against ten different opponents in
what’s called the ‘Swiss system’.
The
top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout
stage, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a
two-legged play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.
Similar
format changes will also be applied to the UEFA Europa League (8 matches in the
league stage) and UEFA Europa Conference League (6 matches in the league
stage). Subject to further discussions and agreements, these two competitions
may also be expanded to a total of 36 teams each in the league stage.
Qualification
for the UEFA Champions League will continue to be open and earned through a
team’s performance in domestic competitions.
One
of the additional places will go to the club ranked third in the championship
of the association in the fifth position in the UEFA national association
ranking. Another will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four
to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called “Champions Path”.
The
final two places will go to the clubs with the highest club coefficient over
the last five years that have not qualified for the Champions League group
stage but have qualified either for the Champions League qualification phase,
the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
All
games before the final will still be played midweek, recognising the importance
of the domestic calendar of games across Europe.
Commenting
on the new format, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, said:
“This
new format supports the status and future of the domestic game throughout
Europe as well. It retains the principle that domestic performance should be
the key to qualification and reconfirms the principles of solidarity right
through the game and of open competition.
“This
evolved format will still keep alive the dream of any team in Europe to
participate in the UEFA Champions League thanks to results obtained on the
pitch and it will enable long-term viability, prosperity, and growth for
everyone in European football, not just a tiny, self-selected cartel.
“Football
is a social and cultural treasure, enriched with values, traditions and
emotions shared across our continent. As the governing body and responsible
stewards of the European game, it is UEFA’s role to safeguard this legacy while
leading the positive future development of football in Europe for national
associations, leagues, clubs, players, and fans at every level. This is why we
had an extensive consultation process over the last two years which led to the
unanimous backing of our proposal and we are convinced that these reforms
achieve those objectives.”
Further
decisions regarding matters such as the rebalancing of the access list, match
dates, seeding system, format for the finals, coefficients and financial
distribution will be made by the end of the year and potential adjustments to
the format approved today could still be made if necessary.
At
the same time, UEFA will also reaffirm its strong financial commitment to the
whole of European football and initiate steps to ensure that greater financial
solidarity will be delivered to a wider spectrum of clubs who do not
participate in UEFA club competitions. This will reinforce the solid foundation
on which the game in Europe is built.
UEFA
will also open a dialogue with all relevant stakeholders with a view to
proposing safeguards and protections for players’ health across competitions at
all levels
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