Champions Revolution: all the economic effects

12 May 20222 years ago babelfish

The UEFA Executive Committee has approved the project for the new Champions League which, starting from 2024, will supplant the current competition and adopt the so-called “Swiss system”. Facts, numbers and comments

The Champions League changes its face. UEFA's Executive Committee has approved the project for the new Champions League which, starting from 2024, will supplant the current competition and adopt the so-called “ Swiss system ”. A reform that brings the Champions League closer to a European super championship, with a nod to the project, aborted even before it was born, of the Superlega.

A European championship

The first two big news concern the number of teams that will play in the new Champions, which goes from 32 to 36 , and the overcoming of the "gironcini" in favor of a single group of 36 teams.

How the new four teams are chosen

As stated in the UEFA press release , the four additional clubs will be selected according to the following criteria:

one place will go to third place in the league championship of the association in fifth place in the ranking of the UEFA national associations;
a place will be assigned to a national champion by increasing the number of teams that will qualify through the so-called "Path of Champions" from four to five;
the last two places will be assigned to the federations with the best collective performance in the previous season. This indication is obtained from the total number of points obtained divided by the number of teams playing in that league. These two associations will thus earn a place for the best-ranked club in the national league behind the positions in the UEFA Champions League.

Initially it was proposed to assign two additional places to the teams with a better "historical ranking" , therefore big players who had not managed to rank in such positions as to access the Champions League. UEFA has evaluated and ruled out this hypothesis.

What is the "Swiss system"

In the game of chess, the Swiss system consists of pairing, within a tournament, players who have accumulated an equal score, or a close score. The translation into the new Champions League provides that in the 36-team group each team will play 8 games, 4 at home to 4 away games, always with different teams. The challengers will be chosen by drawing lots. The results collected by the participants in the championship will form a single ranking. The first eight classified will go directly to the round of 16 , while the teams classified between the ninth and the 24th position will have to play in the play -offs, with home and away matches. Identified in this way the other eight challengers will move on to the round of 16, then the quarterfinals, semifinal and final. The teams that finish between 25th and 36th position and eliminated from the playoffs will be eliminated from the competition.

When the races will be held

The eight group matches of the UEFA Champions League will be played over 10 weeks, again in the middle of the week , as in the current format. The UEFA Executive Committee has confirmed that all matches before the final will also be played in the middle of the week.

UEFA forecasts: 5 billion for the new Champions

Some time ago, UEFA had estimated revenues from television and commercial rights for its new Champions League at 5 billion . According to the Times , the governing body of European football expects a 40% increase, bringing revenues, an event that would reach the astonishing figure of 5 billion euros.

Revolution also in the Europa League and Conference League

The Europa League and the Conference League will participate in this revolution. Also in these competitions there will be 36 teams in the starting blocks with a single group and 8 games per team (4 home and 4 away) for the Europa League and 6 games (3 home and 3 away) for the Conference. League.

Aleksander Ceferin: "It's not the new Superalloy"

"It will be much more interesting." UEFA President Aleksander Cefarin is pleased with the new creation. "With the current formula, in the group stage, you know which teams will qualify after two or three games – he says in an interview with 'L'Equipe' -. From 2024 it will not be so easy, even for the "big clubs" . We are convinced that the competitive balance will improve and this will generate substantial revenues to be distributed to clubs, leagues and football. The qualification will continue to be based on sporting results so that all clubs can dream of participating in our competitions ”. And it distances itself from the alleged similarity of this project to the “Superlega”. “Having more teams and more games does not mean having created the Super League – underline Cefarin -. The Super League is always having the same teams playing with each other ".

ECA approval: opportunities for the growth of European football

The ECA, the association representing around 240 European football clubs, has also approved UEFA's reform . After all, the president of the European Association of Clubs Nasser Al-Khelaifi (who succeeded Andrea Agnelli after the Superlega "case") collaborated with Uefa number one Alexsander Ceferin to develop the new format. Among the most appreciated aspects was the growth " from 96 to 108 participating teams with a good balance of teams from all countries , including at least 37 national champions entering the men's European competitions" as well as the opportunity " for all clubs – big and little ones – to play and be seen on the European stage in several weeks of European football matches, including an exclusive week for each competition ”. The new format would offer "the opportunity for the future growth of European football in a sustainable, responsible and inclusive way", reads the statement from the ECA.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/rivoluzione-champions-tutti-gli-effetti-economici/ on Wed, 11 May 2022 13:19:09 +0000.