The European Leagues are set to tackle UEFA over further plans to further reduce access to the Champions League.
Plans are well underway for further changes to suit clubs from the four richest leagues after the move in 2018 that presented four group stage places to the clubs from England, Spain, Germany and Italy.
Further ideas have been suggested including teams with ‘historic significance’ such as Celtic gaining easier access with the possibility of weekend Champions League fixtures also on the agenda.
Scotland was one of the 14 founder members of the European Leagues which now boasts 35 members from 28 countries including Spain, Italy, Portugal and Holland.
After a meeting in Madrid today the European Leagues stated:
European Leagues welcome the UEFA initiative to call for a meeting between the European Leagues’ Board and the UEFA Executive Committee tomorrow. The leagues hope for a constructive meeting to discuss the points and concerns raised by clubs and leagues over the past two days. The leagues also hope tomorrow’s meeting will lead to an opportunity for European Leagues and UEFA to work together to ensure that any proposals to develop European club competitions are not to the detriment of domestic leagues
Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga added: “We are at an incredibly important moment where the future of European football is being decided. It is imperative that leagues, clubs, small and large engage and do not let anyone take decisions for them. I’m very pleased with the attendance and engagement at today’s meeting and hopefully we will have a constructive discussion to, together, shape the future of our sport and business.”
Next season Celtic face four qualifying rounds to reach the group phase of the Champions League with the matches all falling on consecutive weekends.
Under the last batch of changes the number of places available from the ‘Champions Route’ was reduced from five to four.
Clancy has had a nightmare of a season, why is Tory MP Douglas Ross on the line for the third consecutive Ibrox derby? Does anyone at Celtic ever say anything about these matters?https://t.co/PdDq4be0Iq
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) May 7, 2019