UEFA could do away with plans to award a spot in the Champions League to teams based on their European ranking after a backlash from supporters and various officials.
Talks are reportedly taking place to restructure the Champions League, with proposals to adopt new coefficient criteria that would give a spot to the two highest-ranking clubs who did not qualify for the competition, irrespective of how they have performed domestically. The plan has been met with significant criticism, with the idea of rewarding teams who do not qualify leaving supporters disappointed and unhappy, bringing back memories of the European Super League.
According to The Times, that reaction has been heard within UEFA and some people close to the decision-making process fear the proposal may be cancelled. Insiders at UEFA say the idea isn’t finalised yet, and that a final decision will be made by Monday, May 10th, with talks on the matter set to take place in the next weeks.
The coefficient concept has a lot of support, with some at UEFA arguing that the competition would be more worthwhile if the biggest teams were assured to play. While teams who qualify based on their ranking would not displace a lower-ranked team that qualified through traditional means, critics of the concept claim that the ‘larger’ teams would be granted a safety net that others would not. To strike a balance, changes to the scheme could be made to prevent a team from receiving a historic slot if they finish more than one place outside of their league’s Champions League spots, although these problems are set to be explored in the following weeks.
