UEFA, 46th ordinary Congress begins today in Vienna
Hoping to finalize the Champions League reform that kicks off the 2024-25 season, to attract more TV rights revenues, with four more clubs and one hundred more games, UEFA has scheduled for today (10/5) in Vienna , his committee and a day later (11/5) its annual conference.
The reform of the largest club organization on the planet – the most radical in twenty years – was presented in the spring of 2021, although at that time it was overshadowed by the “storm” of the European Super League. up to the official agenda of the steering committee (5/10, 14: 00-17: 00) does not foresee the announcement of the decision for the future Champions League, UEFA hopes that this can happen on the sidelines of its Annual Conference (5/11, 11: 00-13: 00).
The reform provides for the transition from 32 to 36 clubs in 2024-2025, as well as the replacement of the eight groups of the four clubs from mini-championship to single group. The goal is to satisfy both the broadcasters, with 225 games in total of today’s 125, and the clubs, which higher revenues – even in the event of early exclusion -, but also fans looking for big matches.
There was a problem with the calendar. Initially there was a program of 10 games for each team, but last Friday the European Union of Leagues requested a limit of eight games, in order not to affect the national national teams.
Even some large groups oppose this never-ending phase, with European Union (ECA) President Nasser Al-Kalaifi appearing to be in a real conflict of interest between his role as president of Paris Saint-Germain and the his boss. the beIN channel, which broadcasts some Champions League matches in France.
Another controversial point is the availability of two of the four additional tickets through the “UEFA tariff”, or the previous European results, as further opportunities for the best teams to make up for a lost season. “The European leagues are strongly opposed to the introduction of a position system linked to the so-called European rate, which would be an unjustified second chance for the big clubs,” the European League of Leagues said on Friday.
The review could also include the idea, proposed last year by UEFA President Alexander Cheferin, for semi-finals and finals in the same city in Final 4 format.
AS said the words of the UEFA President: “We are thinking of a great idea, which is too early to share with the public. “We need more time to finalize it before we talk about it.”
At the beginning of 2022, the television rights for European club events were repaid, ensuring revenues of five billion euros per year for the period 2024-2027, a jump of more than 50% compared to the television rights for 2018-2019.
Uefa photos
Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist – Football and international affairs analyst
Member of the AIPS football committee and of the IFFHS World Statistics Federation