European Leagues hoping UEFA drop coefficient-ranked Champions League plan

Europe’s domestic leagues are confident UEFA will make the “wise” decision and drop plans to award two places in the new-look Champions League based on historic continental performance.

UEFA presented proposals to award two spots in the competition from 2024 to teams based on their coefficient ranking at the European Club Association’s general assembly in Vienna last month.

The coefficient is calculated on how a team have performed in European competitions over the previous five seasons. The major criticism of it is that it would create a ‘safety net’ for any big club which performed poorly domestically in any given season.

European Leagues believes those two extra places in the Champions League should be awarded to domestic champions from leagues who do not currently receive an automatic place.

A decision on European club competition formats – including who qualifies and an increase in the number of group-phase matches from the current six to 10 – is set to be made by UEFA’s executive committee when it meets in Vienna on May 10.

Despite the presentation to the ECA, the European Leagues group has been encouraged by public pronouncements from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over the last year, and by the confederation’s endorsement of a European fans’ petition called ‘Win It On The Pitch’ earlier this month.

“We have had good dialogue with UEFA on this and think we will find common ground with this,” the chair of European Leagues’ management board Claus Thomsen said in Istanbul on Friday.

“Raising these issues are not contrary to UEFA. It is fair to say our expectation is that UEFA also has the position of sporting merit being at the core of European and domestic competitions.”

European Leagues managing director Jacco