UEFA’s Champions League plans are a ‘shameless’ attempt to secure dominance of Europe’s top clubs

Leeds United is the latest Premier League club to call out UEFA’s plans for an expanded Champions League as a ‘shameless’ attempt to generate cash for Europe’s biggest clubs.

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace had their say last week at a meeting of the European Leagues, a representative body that includes the Premier League, claiming the plans will kill ‘the dream’ of European competition and will have a ‘devastating’ impact on English football.

And now Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear has joined the rising voices of dissent at UEFA’s proposals, using his programme notes ahead of his club’s scoreless draw with Chelsea on Saturday.

Leeds United chief Angus Kinnear described UEFA’s Champions League plans as ‘shameless’

Kinnear spoke out before Leeds game against Chelsea, which ended in a 0-0 draw

Kinnear attacked the plans, which propose enlarging the competition from 32 to 36 teams and allocating the additional places using UEFA rankings, thereby benefiting the most successful teams.

‘After the insidious design of Project Big Picture to concentrate power in the hands of a few clubs at domestic level, we now face the same challenges on the European stage,’ he wrote. 

‘But the element that the supporters of the majority of Premier League clubs should be most outraged by is the principle that qualification for Europe will no longer be only based on in-season merit, but on a coefficient of clubs’ historic performance in Europe.

‘This is shamelessly engineered to perpetuate the inclusion of clubs who have long-term European success and whom Uefa deem will have greater commercial value at the expense of emerging clubs.’

UEFA is committed to reforming the Champions League to create more matches and revenue

Villa chief Christian Purslow  said the proposals would make it harder to ‘live the dream’

The proposal currently under consideration is broadly supported by the powerful European Club Association, which is widely considered to be dominated by the biggest clubs, but a number of key elements of the plans are opposed by the European Leagues.

The latter held an online meeting last week attended by more than 300 clubs across Europe and a number of those used the events to speak out against the plans.

As well as proposing the allocation of three of the additional places using the UEFA rankings, the proposals also suggest expanding the group phase of the competition from six to 10 matches, increasing the total number of games by 100.

Clubs with recent history of European success could have a protected route into  competition

The format would use a so-called Swiss model – popular in chess – in which all clubs are in one group but play 10 games against seeded competition. The aim is to make the pre-knockout stage more exciting.

However, Kinnear is not convinced.

‘UEFA’s plans to expand the competition with the doubling of matches under the enticingly branded ‘Swiss format’ is deeply concerning on a number of levels,’ he added.

‘Primarily, I have serious doubts over whether the increase in games is actually what supporters want.

‘I find it hard to believe that Spurs fans are clamouring for an away tie at Lokomotiv Plovdiv to be an annual fixture.

UEFA has put forward plans to expand the Champions League from 2024 from 32 to 36 teams

‘Furthermore, the expansion will undoubtedly cannibalise the value that we can generate from our domestic competition that the rest of Europe eye so enviously but the element that the supporters of the majority of Premier League clubs should be most outraged by is the principle that qualification for Europe will no longer be only based on in-season merit but on a co-efficient of clubs’ historic performance in Europe.’

At the European Leagues meeing, Palace chairman Steve Parish said the moves would eventually usher in a European Super League by the back door. 

‘This will have a quite devastating effect on domestic competition in England,’ he said.

Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, led objections to the plans at a European meeting

While, Villa’s chief executive, Christian Purslow spoke against protected access to the reformed competition, for the biggest clubs.

‘Most people would see that as unfair and just not feeling right,’ he suggested.

UEFA feels under pressure to agree a new format for the Champions League following revelations about a rival European Super League, earlier this year.

While the super league idea has been around for years, UEFA has been taken aback by the advanced nature of the planning and guidance for the new venture, hence is determined to push through its own proposals.

Lars-Christer Olsson, president of the European Leagues, is leading the campaign to change the proposals for the competition, but UEFA is expected to make a decision in a month

However, UEFA’s general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, and insisted last week ‘consultation has been exhaustive’.

He acknowledged it is ‘impossible to please everyone’, but added: ‘We would like to have everyone as comfortable as possible at the moment the [UEFA executive committee] make the decision.”

UEFA executive committee is expected to make a decision on the proposals in the coming weeks, before the organisation’s general assembly in mid-April.