The April 2021 reform decision provides for access for two clubs per season based on historical results. Who in his national league the Champions League missed and only in the Europe league or the conference league landed should still be in the Champions League play if they have a good position in the rankings for the past five years in European competitions.
Rescue net for big clubs
An example: If Borussia Dortmund is only fifth in the table in the Bundesliga, it should BVB still play because the club is well placed in the five-year coefficient – a lifeline for big clubs. Leagues and fan associations had always criticized the project.
There seemed to be an opportunity for change in the negotiations over the last few weeks after Uefa-President Aleksander Ceferin publicly by “more seats for small and medium leagues” had spoken, the one in the Champions League want to offer from 2024.
The Club Association ECA decided at its General Assembly in Vienna on Tuesday (March 29, 2022) to continue the system adopted in 2021 Uefa to demand In all likelihood, this system will no longer be shaken.
Objection to the regulation of national leagues
The European League Association European Leaguesin which the German Football League (DFL) is organized, had the participation of more national champions in the reform process with a view to the four new places Champions League required. “We would like more national champions to play instead”said manager jacco swart of the European Leagues in the run-up to the decision in conversation with the sports show. The title holders from the Czech Republic, Turkey, Denmark and Scotland, for example, are currently all playing in the qualifiers.
For the leagues, the opposition to the regulation was also a form of self-protection. The problem: Part of the interest from fans is based on who qualifies for European competition in leagues like the Bundesliga. Once national leagues are no longer the sole basis for qualifying, they become somewhat less relevant – and potentially more difficult to commercialize.
Another concern: Even if the coefficient as a rescue net for two of the big clubs is not a huge change, the basic procedure is now being given legitimacy. With further reforms in the future, an expansion of this access to the Champions League easier to enforce.
Cornerstones of the reform: more games, more clubs, more money
the Champions League will be held from 2024 with 36 instead of 32 teams.
The four additional seats in the Champions League should be distributed as follows:
- A spot goes to the champion of the qualification who ranks best in the five-year coefficient.
- One place goes to the fifth best country in the five-year ranking (currently France).
- Two spots go to the top-ranked clubs in the five-year coefficient that opt for European competition but not the Champions League qualified – that was the point at issue.
In the current season, for example, AS Rome or Tottenham Hotspur could benefit from the new rule if it had already been in force. Both clubs missed that Champions Leaguebut would have been upgraded by their position in the coefficient.