The Champions League format is all set to witness a reform and will stop just short of being a closed Super League. The new changes will give the bigger clubs more matches to play beside a certainty to be represented.
The UEFA executive committee was to make a decision on Wednesday however, it said late on Tuesday that this has been postponed until the next meeting on April 19, reportedly over a dispute around the distribution of commercial rights income.
“The future of club competitions post-2024 will be one of the topics discussed,” UEFA said in a statement.
“However, any official decision in this respect will only be made at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on April 19, in order to finalise ongoing discussions,” it added.
The proposed change is reportedly a Swiss model reform under which the elite event will be expanded from 32 to 36 teams from 2024 onwards, until 2033.
All teams would be in one league instead of eight groups.
They would however, won’t play against every other team but against teams drawn based on the previous season’s results.
“Two years ago there were ideas and demands for a closed league as well as for weekend fixtures. We managed to prevent it, and it appears also through our strong and unanimous position as the Bundesliga,” Fernando Carro, chairman of the Bayer Leverkusen board said.
“It was important for us that qualifying for a European event will continue to be via national leagues, and that weekends are reserved for national leagues,” he added.
A Champions League expansion would be in line with that of the European championships from 16 to 24 teams in 2016 and that of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams from 2026.