The European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) slammed as "unacceptable" planned reforms of the Champions League and threatened Thursday to programme matches at the same time as UEFA competitions. The continental leagues' governing body also called for a renegotiations of a previous memorandum of understanding with UEFA's incoming president, demanding greater say in major decisions it says impacts even the smallest football clubs.
European governing body UEFA has decided for the period 2018-2021 that the four top-ranked leagues - Spain, England, Germany and Italy - will have four automatic places in the lucrative Champions League. "A major change in European football has been announced without the support and consensus of the organisers of domestic league football in Europe," the EPFL said in a statement after a two-day meeting in Amsterdam to discuss the outcome of last month's reform.
"This decision will have a detrimental impact on domestic competitions and will lead to an exponential growth in the financial and sporting gap between the biggest clubs in Europe and all the others," it said. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, EPFL chairman Lars-Christer Olsson told journalists: "Our main criticism is that the process has been very bad and it's not up to any decent governance principles."
"There has been no proper consultation at all before these decisions were made," he said.
Olsson, a former UEFA chief executive, said the EPFL firmly believed clubs should be allowed to qualify through sporting merit in domestic leagues and then be allowed to play at European level. "What is happening now is if you are only taking four teams from the four bigger leagues, you are cementing the system," making it almost impossible for any teams in other countries to earn a Champions League spot.
The association called on UEFA's new president who will be elected next Wednesday in Athens "to reconsider the reform". Olsson said the EPFL's main aim now is to get representation on UEFA's executive committee, to have a "proper position for those who are representing the most important part in European professional football".
Slovenian federation president Aleksander Ceferin, one of the two candidates, told French daily L'Equipe, "If I'm elected I cannot change it," although he added: "For small clubs, like Slovenian ones, it's not a good thing." Olsson told journalists that he has spoken to Dutchman Michael van Praag, the other candidate, who told Olsson if he was elected "he will look into the processes and procedures". Bernard Caiazzo, president of France's Premiere Ligue union that represents the country's professional clubs, described the change as "sad for French football".
"This is a hasty decision and everyone is taken aback. This is a real scandal in form and substance. It's a disaster. "Ninety percent of the clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 even have the feeling of being violated by this reform." The EPFL added: "The European Leagues believe the way this process has been conducted by UEFA to be unacceptable for an organisation that claims to be the governing body of football in Europe." Olsson however stressed he believed the dispute could still be resolved through dialogue. "I think that it's possible with a new president in UEFA and a new executive committee coming up that it's possible to have a proper dialogue to find solutions together, rather than having a revolution in European football," Olsson said.
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