UEFA: Discussions on the possible creation of a third European Cup competition from 2018

European football leaders, at the instigation of the ECA, are considering the possibility of creating a third European Cup competition, according to the American news agency AP, on 16/09/2015. "At a meeting of the 54 UEFA members on Wednesday, they explored the merits of a new competition for teams that fail to advance from the qualifying rounds for the Champions League or Europa League," said AP.

Many leaders of European football are currently in Malta for the UEFA executive committee meeting, organised in St Julians, on 17 and 18/09/2015.

This kind of "consolation" could also be limited to clubs of the lowest-ranked countries in the UEFA index who never qualify for the group stages of the Champions League or Europa League. Whatever the format of the competition and its participants, it can not be created until the end of the 2015-2018 cycle, as UEFA have already sold the TV rights to the Champions League and Europa League for that period, said AP.