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Andrea Agnelli's Juventus won the Serie A for the eighth consecutive season
Juventus President Andrea Agnelli has accused Europe's biggest clubs of "protectionism" in their response to the reorganization plans of the Champions League.
The European Clubs Association (ECA) wants UEFA to present four groups of eight teams in place of the current structure of eight groups of four.
The move would add another eight games and probably generate more revenue for the clubs.
On Wednesday, the Premier League said it unanimously opposed this idea.
Opening a general badembly of ECA in Malta, Agnelli, in his role as president, told the 400 delegates: "What has been really disappointing so far is the whole conversation that has been animated by representatives five big leagues.
"I see it as a protectionism of the five big leagues vis-à-vis the rest of European football."
League 1 in Spain, Ligue 1 in England, Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy and Ligue 1 in France are considered the biggest leagues in Europe.
Agnelli said, "I can give you an answer as a member of five big leagues because I play in one of them, and I can answer you as president of ECA." My answers will vary. give you the answer.
"The hat that matters to me the most [today] is the hat of the president of the European Association of Clubs.
"It is important that we seek together solutions for the good of European football."
Senior executives from leading English clubs were in the room at St Julian's, including Manchester United executive vice president Ed Woodward, a member of the ECA committee.
Manchester City general manager Ferran Soriano, Liverpool general manager Peter Moore, Chelsea president Bruce Buck, Tottenham president Daniel Levy and Arsenal general manager Vinai Venkatesham have left the annual meeting early to attend the two-day conference.
It is understood that the six clubs take a unified position because they are convinced that the ECA proposals would be extremely detrimental to the status of the Premier League.
Although others do not agree, England is convinced that world television revenues generated by live football are limited and that more competition in the Champions League would threaten the amount the Premier League could generate as the most lucrative national competition in the world. world.
We also think in English football that many of the problems that concern Agnelli – especially the fact that Ajax next season must enter the competition in the second qualifying round, even if they have only a few minutes to reach the final of this season – could be solved with minor problems. adjustments to the current system.
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It is also believed that, due to the combination of its number of top clubs and the competitiveness of the competition, the Premier League has two intrinsic advantages that it would be wrong to disturb.
Agnelli and Edwin van der Sar, leader of Ajax, are due to speak with the media on Friday. They will participate in several workshops that will deliberately mix the biggest clubs in Europe with some of the smaller ones to lead a constructive dialogue on the subject. the problems that affect them the most.
"If we want to find solutions for the good of European football, we have to take a step back and try to see things on another level," Agnelli said.
"We should try to put ourselves in each other's shoes and understand what is the best solution for the future."
Source: bbc.com
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