From next season onwards, a lot of things will be different in the European Cup – not necessarily better, as many fans think. They now made a joint statement.
36 instead of 32 teams, one league phase instead of a preliminary round of eight groups, eight instead of six games before the knockout phase: the new Champions League season brings with it some changes: more teams, more games – and more money for clubs and associations .
The signing bonus alone brings every club in the premier class around three million euros more money. While it was previously 15.64 million euros, from the 2024/2025 season it will be 18.85 million euros.
One team that will benefit from the additional income next season is VfB Stuttgart. The Swabians are the surprise team of the league, the lead over a non-Champions League place is seven points nine game days before the end of the season. It seems that it can hardly be prevented that VfB will be represented internationally.
Criticism from Stuttgart, Dortmund and Munich
Despite the lucrative reforms, the upcoming competitive evolution is a thorn in the side of many fans in Europe – including that of VfB Stuttgart. As part of a joint statement by several national and international clubs on the reform of UEFA competitions, the support group “Commando Cannstatt” commented in detail on the upcoming reforms.
The group criticizes UEFA’s approach, on the one hand, for the ever-increasing burden on the players, but also for the ever-widening gap between teams that are internationally represented and those that are not.
| 1 | Erling HaalandMan City | 7 | 0.85 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1 | Harry KaneBavaria | 8th | 0.75 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1 | Kylian MbappeParis SG | 8th | 0.75 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4 | Antoine GriezmannAtl. Madrid | 7 | 0.71 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 4 | Alvaro MorataAtl. Madrid | 7 | 0.71 | 0 | 5 |
“The growing number of games in the competitions will push players and fans to their limits – for example, football greats such as Toni Kroos and Jürgen Klopp have repeatedly complained about too many games,” the statement says. “The significantly increased revenue that is to be generated by the reforms also has the potential to destroy national competitions and pave the way for an impending European Super League.”
There has already been a “massive devaluation of national competitions” in recent years, with the result that “the clubs equipped with the additional millions have regularly fought for the top places in the table among themselves”.
More equitable distribution of funds called for
The reform would “solidify the current structures in European club football and exacerbate the imbalance within the national leagues”. As concrete demands, the alliance cites a fairer distribution of money, the prevention of abuse of the structures and a reduction in the number of games.
In addition to “Commando Cannstatt”, the Südkurve Cologne, the Ultras Leverkusen, the Südtribüne Dortmund, the Südkurve Munich and the Corrillo Ultras of SC Freiburg also joined the statement.