Leagues in Europe's domestic leagues have criticized the amendments to be made by the European Football Association (UEFA) to the Champions League from 2024, especially the increase in the number of matches and the proposal to offer two seats in the tournament to two teams based on their historical record.
"The domestic leagues in Europe represent the backbone of European football," said Klaus Thomson, head of the European Leagues, at a press conference today, Friday.
UEFA stated that it will extend the size of the Champions League, starting from the 2024-2025 season, to include 36 teams instead of 32 in the current system, and said that the tournament will be held in a league system and not in a group system, bringing the number of matches in it to 100 matches.
"This increase (in the number of matches) will destroy the vast majority of clubs and serve only a few clubs," Thompson said.
Thompson indicated that the "sports standard" currently applied should remain the way to determine the participants in the prominent European championship and that qualification for the championship should not depend on the history of teams' performance in the past in European championships and not according to performance in local leagues, which represents safety for the big teams if they falter in the local league. .
"This is the heart and soul of football," he said. "That's why fans feel the excitement of football every weekend."