UEFA SET TO REWARD GOOD PERFORMERS IN 2024

 

UEFA says it is ready  to  award two Champions League places to countries whose clubs  performed most excellent in Europe  from 2024 .

An accord  was said to have been  reached in Vienna between UEFA and the European Club Association on access to the new-look competition.

The proposal to award two places in the new 36-team league phase based on individual clubs’ European performances over five years has been scrapped.

Critics had argued it created a safety net for failing big clubs and a Super League by default.

Instead two places will be awarded to clubs from the countries who performed best in Europe in the previous term.

If applied to next season, that would mean England gaining an extra spot, along with the Netherlands.

It is also understood the number of matches in the new-look league phase per team will drop to eight, with the initial proposal being 10 matches.

Under the approved country coefficient system England would have secured an extra place in four of the last five seasons.

The exception is the performance in the 2019/2020 season, when the places would have gone to Germany and Spain.

New proposals were presented to the ECA in Madrid on Monday and the indications then were that more time would be needed to reach a decision.

This possibly may mean forcing the decision back until later this month at least.

However, a key meeting of UEFA’s club competitions committee was delayed on Tuesday morning to allow more time for the final detail to be worked out.

UEFA originally approved changes to the format in April last year but the announcement was totally overshadowed by the formation of the Super League hours earlier.