BARCELONA (Reuters) - Uefa proposals to change part of the Champions League format would be "catastrophic" for soccer but Fifa's plans to overhaul the Club World Cup will be a boon for the sport, LaLiga president Javier Tebas told Reuters on Thursday (March 14).
Tebas lashed out at changes he said Europe's governing body is considering making to the Champions League, saying they would damage domestic competitions.
Accusing Uefa and the European Club Association (ECA) of plotting in secret, Tebas said the body wanted to play European games on weekends rather than in mid-week and expand the group stage to four groups of eight teams, rather than the current format of eight groups of four sides.
"Uefa and the ECA are negotiating behind closed doors so that the others don't know about the reforms which put national leagues in danger," said Tebas in an exclusive interview to Reuters.
"They are making reforms to the Champions League which are very dangerous for football. It's a model which is very damaging for national leagues and also for them, as they don't understand business."
Uefa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tebas earlier this year made headlines for attempting to switch a LaLiga game between Barcelona and Girona to Miami, a move which was opposed by Fifa.
While he remains committed to taking domestic league games abroad to widen LaLiga's global appeal, Tebas said his priority was stopping Uefa's proposed changes.
"Playing a game in Miami is much less important to LaLiga than the catastrophic reforms of Uefa and the ECA," he said.
"Fifa has been transparent in the last few weeks and changed its position so we support them (in their Club World Cup plans), meanwhile Uefa and ECA are doing the opposite and we are very worried about that and don't support them."
Fifa's ruling council meets on Friday in Miami to discuss and vote on president Gianni Infantino's plans for the revamped Club World Cup, which would take place in 2021, replacing the Confederations Cup.
The new-look competition would see 24 teams taking part instead of the current, annual tournament between six continental champions and an invited team, which has been dominated by the winners of the Champions League since 2013.
Tebas initially opposed Infantino's plan for an annual, expanded Club World Cup, calling it "irresponsible" last year. But he said the Spanish league and other major European leagues have radically shifted their position on it.
"In the last year Fifa has made some changes and we are on the path to a good Club World Cup which fits well into the calendar and can be supported by national leagues," Tebas said.
"It still needs to be polished but they are discussing distributing the money more evenly to smaller leagues and that's very important. Fifa have also been more transparent about it.
"They've also committed to playing it every four years which affects national leagues a lot less."
The proposed shake up to the tournament has been rejected by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the ECA chief Andrea Agnelli, who is also the chairman of Juventus.
The Fifa council in Miami will also explore the possibility of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 teams, which could see the number of host countries also increase.
The tournament will take place between November and December rather than the traditional slot of June and July due to Qatar's scorching summer temperatures, which is set to disrupt domestic leagues across Europe and around the world.
"We always opposed the change of the dates and now LaLiga is preparing ourselves for the break in the season," Tebas said.
"We also must decide what we do with all the players that are not going to the World Cup, of which there are many, not just in Spain but around the world and who didn't figure in decisions like this.
"We'll have to wait and see what Fifa decides but in principle, we at the Spanish league are not in favour of increasing the number of teams at the Qatar World Cup or any World Cup."
Wolves beat Bournemouth in their best top-flight run for 38 years Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v AFC Bournemouth - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - December 15, 2018 Wolverhampton Wanderers Helder Costa in action with Bournemouths Steve Cook REUTERS/Darren
Wolves beat Bournemouth in their best top-flight run for 38
Lionel Messi collected a record fifth Golden Shoe award on Tuesday for finishing last season as the top goalscorer in Europe. The striker scored 34 goals in 68 games for Barcelona, putting him ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Tottenham's Harry Kane.
Barca superstar claims record 5th Golden Shoe - Daily Nation
MANCHESTER, England (REUTERS) - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrated his first game as permanent Manchester United manager with a 2-1 Premier League win over Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday (March
Manchester United 2-1 Watford: Rashford and Martial give
Liverpool blew a chance take a vice-like grip on the title race and Chelsea suffered their worst league defeat in 23 years. | EPL PIX: Leaders Liverpool stumble, Chelsea collapse
Leaders Liverpool stumble, Chelsea collapse - Egypt Today
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp concedes he faces a selection dilemma as centre back Dejan Lovren is unlikely to feature against Bayern Munich in Tuesday's Champions League last 16 fixture at Anfield.
Football: Liverpool's Lovren unlikely to face Bayern, says
Win over Watford more like draw: Ole LONDON • While Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was able to mark his first game as Manchester United's full-time manager with a victory, he was far from impressed by the "slow and sloppy" performance by his players.
"It was more like a draw" | Ole after Watford Match - YouTube
Paine and Kohli clash as Australia takes a grip on the second Test Meghan and Harry post new baby photo to mark Mother's Day At least six dead as gunmen storm church in Burkina Faso
Grip and bare it: the grit of new Australian cricket era
Why Kepa should be sacked and not Sarri The Blues held down Man City to a goalless draw last night in the Carabao League final at Wembley stadium. However, late in the second half of the extra time, Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga suffered an injury and Sarri called on him to be replaced by Willy […]
'Disgrace' Kepa should be sacked: Sutton - beinsports.com
Liverpool produce one of the greatest Champions League comebacks by scoring four goals to beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate and reach the final.
Liverpool stun Barcelona to reach Champions League final
For more than 70 minutes, Tampines Rovers defended resolutely and looked on course to record a morale-boosting AFC Cup win over Hanoi FC despite their fatigue and injury problems.
New Singapore football coach Tatsuma Yoshida and players
usasportsradar.com/soccer/new-singapore-football-coach-tatsuma-yoshida-and-players-must-be-on-same-page/
Citing Vietnam's success with the unheralded South Korean coach Park Hang-seo, he said: "Park was relatively unknown until his first senior national team job with Vietnam in 2017, and their amazing run in which he led them to the AFF Suzuki Cup title last year and the quarter-finals of this year's Asian Cup.
Healthy business outlook for 2019, two surveys find
Solskjaer 'confident' of Man Utd miracle in Paris Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his "confident" side could stage a Champions League fightback at Paris Saint-Germain this week after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Southampton on Saturday.
Solskjaer 'confident' of Man Utd miracle in Paris
0 comments:
Post a Comment