European Cups reform: the big debate

"We have now launched the process to develop a vision for the future of UEFA Club Competitions post-2024 (2024-2027 cycle). This is the start of a journey that will see further and deep engagement with all professional game stakeholders, prior to reaching any formal decisions," said the ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli (ITA), to representatives of 164 European clubs at the General Assembly in Amsterdam (NED) on 26/03/2019.

A week earlier, an "informal brainstorming session to exchange views and ideas around UEFA club competitions post-2024" took place between the UEFA Executive Committee and ECA Executive Board at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon (SUI) on Tuesday 19/03/2019. The 32 Champions League clubs could, from 2024-25, be divided into four groups of eight teams (instead of eight groups of four), with 14 guaranteed matches and the assurance that the top five in each group (20 clubs) will participate in the next edition, regardless of their national league results. The sixth and seventh of each group would play in play-offs for four places in the following Champions League, according to…