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Champions League: Clubs Meet to Discuss Revamp Including Promotion and Relegation
The European Club Association are set to meet this month to discuss plans to revamp the Champions League, with a new pyramid system featuring promotion and relegation to Europe's elite club competition on the table.
The ECA is chaired by Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, and represents 232 UEFA member clubs.
As per the BBC, Agnelli wrote to each of the clubs, proposing new ideas to introduce a 'pan-European pyramidal league system' based on performance rather than historical privilege within the footballing world, and could see clubs move fluidly throughout UEFA competitions irrespective of their domestic performance.
Exactly how the new competition would work is unclear as yet, but more details may come to light after the clubs meet over 6 and 7 of June, with the ECA looking to hear views on the principles they feel are 'fundamental to the future of European football'.
It is believed that representatives from the continent's major leagues prioritise domestic football over European competitions, so this doesn't seem likely to be a step towards any 'European Super League' as it were.
Letter from Juventus and ECA chairman Agnelli to all ECA clubs confirms desire for a European pyramid with promotion and relegation in Champions League after 2024 instead of direct qualification from domestic leagues: pic.twitter.com/syhxKrYwMy
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) April 25, 2019
UEFA is believed to have discussed the idea of bringing Europe's top clubs together into one division last month, with the ECA involved in those discussions.
That idea was reported to have been strongly opposed by the European Leagues umbrella group, and though the ECA have denied such proposals were ever made, Agnelli is reported to have told European clubs not to attend a meeting of the umbrella group next month.
On the face of it, the ECA seem to be proposing something of a middle ground between the current Champions League and the 'Super League' model, but we will only know more when details of the changes come to light.
