UEFA ‘hold secret meetings’ to launch their own version of Super League
Paul Macdonald
- 2 Oct 2023 16:30 BST
- 3 min read
UEFA are holding internal meetings and looking to collaborate with the European Club Association (ECA) in creating their own version of the Super League, according to reports.
Spanish publication El Pais has noted that having broadly saw off the breakaway competition that arose in the ashes of the COVID crisis (and for which there is still a court case pending), UEFA have recognised the direction of travel and have started to formalise their own plans.
The current broadcast cycle for the Champions League begins next season with the newly-revamped Champions League which will operate the Swiss Model, and that ensures that the Champions League will run alongside the Europa League and Europa Conference League until 2027.
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But from that point onwards the TV deals will be open to tender, and UEFA and ECA are drawing up proposals for what their Super League will look like.
UEFA Super League?
The reports suggest that a structure with three divisions is being discussed, each containing 18 teams, therefore there could be 34 matches to fit into a calendar. How this will operate alongside domestic leagues remains up for debate, but anything is possible at this stage.
ECA’s key members have allegedly requested that there be four teams relegated between division two and division three, but only two between division one and two, and even then the relegation may be based on performance across multiple seasons to provide the big clubs with as much protection from relegation as possible.
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It’s also been suggested that if domestic league tournaments were to continue then Super League points could be awarded for success. The plans remain very open-ended - there are even suggestions that the games might be played on weekends - but it’s clear that UEFA and the ECA are putting moves in place to get the Super League on their own terms.
