After replacing Michel Platini as President of UEFA Aleksander Ceferin is ready to challenge proposals to give 16 group places in the Champions League to clubs from the four highest.
Last month plans to reshape the premier UEFA tournament were announced with full details being completed in December.
For Celtic the Champions route will remain but will contain an extra qualifying round and involve clubs from stronger nations being put into that portion of the competition.
On the upside, clubs will have their own individual co-efficient in the seeding process meaning that Celtic aren’t held back by Scotland’s national rating.
Congratulations to new @UEFA president Aleksander ?eferin. Good luck and right decisions in tackling the challenges of European football
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 14, 2016
The move to give four group places to each of the four strongest nations is expected to be accompanied by a £100m payout to each club as the gap between the rich and the rest grows bigger with each passing season.
Last week the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) voiced their opposition to the new proposals with Ceferin poised to tackle the issue head-on.
“Whether I want it or not, I will have to deal with that and that will be the first thing to deal with,” the Slovenian lawyer explained about the proposed Champions League changes.
“UEFA is a very good and very strong organisation, it was without leadership for some time and I think that in a way was a problem in dealing with those things.
“We should show we are the ones who are the governing body with our 55 national associations, and at the same time we have to have dialogue with the clubs and I think the situation can be solved.”
Ceferin has also been quoted as wanting to revisit Financial Fair Play rules which UEFA have largely ignored in recent times with clubs from the major leagues spending significantly more than they are earning season on season.
