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."
Lesson 2: When God Brings Revival (Luke 1:5-17) Thus God sovereignly takes the initiative in sending revival and often waits until things are hopeless so that no
If You Only Own One Kitchen Thing It Should Be This - BuzzFeed
Liverpool's Klopp avoids title talk despite Arsenal rout. Klopp said he was wary of falling into the trap of talking up his team's chances with 18 games of the 38-match campaign remaining.
Liverpool's Klopp avoids title talk despite Arsenal rout
asianewstoday.com/blog/liverpools-klopp-avoids-title-talk-despite-arsenal-rout/
Tiring of media questions about the title race, Klopp said he was wary of falling into the trap of talking up his team's chances with 18 games of the 38-match campaign remaining. "I'm not the smartest person in the world but I'm really not an idiot. It's not important how many points you are ahead in December…
Klopp avoids title talk despite Arsenal rout | Radio NewsHub
'We can score at Barca' LONDON • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows all about improbable Champions League comebacks. It was 20 years ago in Barcelona, where he scored the late winner against Bayern Munich after Teddy Sheringham had equalised just moments before, to give Manchester United a second European Cup.
Man Utd 0-1 Barcelona: Paul Pogba says the comeback against
Neymar hints at joining Real Madrid. On March 3, "He's going to become one of the best players in the history of football and I'm trying to help him as best as possible. We have the same
Neymar hints at joining Real Madrid - sports.yahoo.com
Neymar will miss both legs of Paris Saint-Germain's upcoming Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United after the French club Neymar to miss Man Utd tie after being ruled out for
Burnley manager Sean Dyche praised McNeil and was also upbeat about his team's chances of staying in the top flight. Burnley boost survival hopes with 2-0 win over Wolves Home
Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Huddersfield Town - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 23, 2019 Newcastle United's Salomon Rondon attempts an overhead kick Action I
Football: Newcastle plunge 10-man Huddersfield closer to the drop
Southampton started the evening just five points above the relegation zone at the other end of the table, but had won their past two games as part of a general upturn in form since Ralph Hasenhuttl took charge in December. Liverpool needed more late goals to move top of the Premier League once more
Southampton v Liverpool LIVE STREAM - How to watch Premier
The Tunisian side were leading 1-0 in the second leg of the final and 2-1 overall when play was halted, and after a 90-minute delay the referee awarded the match to the home side.
Tunisian club win African title after final abandoned over VAR
Chelsea collapsed to a 4-0 thrashing at Bournemouth as the Premier League's supposed lesser lights continued to cause mischief at the top end of the table. Liverpool, seeking a first title since 1990, have still increased the gap over City from four points to five but it was night of jitters at a freezing Anfield.
EPL PIX: Leaders Liverpool stumble, Chelsea collapse
Chelsea can cope with transfer ban, says Sarri Maurizio Sarri says he is not worried about Chelsea's looming transfer embargo, insisting he has confidence in his squad as he targets a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Chelsea can cope with transfer ban, says Sarri - Afriupdate
0 comments:
Post a Comment