UEFA has confirmed that their planned changes in the Champions League will take effect from the 2024/25 season, after the board’s executive committee voted to proceed with reforms of the competition format.
Europe’s governing body has been looking to renew the Champions League for a while now and key executives met in Switzerland on Monday to discuss the completion of plans, just a day after some of the game’s biggest names announced their intention to leave the competition to join the Super League.
☑️ #UEFAExCo has approved a new format for club competitions from the 2024/25 season.
⚽ The reforms come after an extensive consultation of the entire football family. The changes that have been made are designed to secure the positive future of European football at all levels. # UCL #UEL
– UEFA (@UEFA) 19 April 2021
Although they are under pressure from the 12 Super League teams, UEFA has chosen to continue with its plans – to go to their official website to announce a reformatting of the competition from 2024 onwards.
In a statement, UEFA President Alexander Ceferin said: “This new format supports the status and future of domestic play throughout Europe as well. It maintains the principle that domestic performance should be the key to qualification and reaffirms the principles of solidarity directly through play and open competition.
“This developed format will still live the dream of all teams in Europe to participate in the UEFA Champions League thanks to the results achieved on the pitch and it will enable long-term profitability, prosperity and growth for everyone in European football, not just a small, self-selected cartel.
Aleksander Ceferin pushes forward with UEFA’s Champions League reforms | FRANCK FIFE / Getty Images
“Football is a social and cultural treasure, enriched by the values, traditions and emotions shared across our continent. As the governing body and responsible manager of the European game, it is UEFA’s role to protect this heritage and at the same time lead a positive future development of football. in Europe, for national associations, leagues, clubs, players and fans at all levels.
“That is why we have had an extensive consultation process over the last two years, which led to the unanimous support of our proposal and we are convinced that these reforms will achieve these goals.”
The changes were voted unanimously, including a nod to approval from PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi – who rejected the chance to join the Super League to remain loyal to UEFA.
From the 2024/25 season onwards, 36 teams will be invited to take part – up to four from the current rules – and all 36 will be part of a huge group, eliminating the eight four-team groups we have come to know.
Al-Khelaifi chose to stay in the Champions League | Jean Catuffe / Getty Images
Each of these teams will be seeded and ranked according to strength, and these rankings will then be used to determine each side’s ten matches. It is known as the Swiss system and has become popular in various other sports.
The top eight teams in the group will all qualify for the knockout stages, while those finishing between the ninth and 24th will take part in their own mini-tournament to decide the remaining eight teams to advance.
Originally, UEFA was publicly paneled on the proposed changes, with many fans complaining that it was about making more money – and now see where we are.
This is described as “the biggest change in European football in decades”, and all this now seems relatively tame compared to the erupting Super League which has pretty much torn the whole continent apart. There will be 36 teams in the Champions League from the 2024/25 season, but as it now looks, 12 of Europe’s biggest names will not be included.
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
