UEFA confirmed this week that their much-criticised Champions League expansion will be going ahead in 2024, but some concessions have been made following supporter lobbying.
The executive committee of the European football authority have approved changes that will expand the Champions League to 36 teams and re-organise the group stages into a single league.
From 2024 all competing teams will play against eight different opponents (four home games, four away) rather than the previous six matches against three teams, played on a home-and-away basis. As well as dropping the proposed number of games to eight from the initially proposed 10, UEFA has dropped its controversial plans to allow two clubs to compete based on historical performance.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) have been at the forefront of lobbying against the expansion of the Champions League since the surfaced just over 12 months ago.
Supporters have consistently argued against expanding European competition to protect domestic leagues and any measures that would undermine sporting merit.
FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain said: "For the first time, the position of fans has directly influenced the outcome of a major reform of European club competitions. Although it is not the one we wanted, we avoided the worst-case scenario and effectively challenged other stakeholders.
"We would like to thank each and every fans’ group that took the time to lobby their respective clubs and governing bodies to do better and helped to make a difference."
thefsa.org.uk
