At yesterday’s meeting of the Football Supporters Association Premier League Network of supporter groups, we heard from Ronan Evain from Football Supporters Europe. Ronan described the current proposals for the reform of the Champions League.

Premier League Supporters groups oppose Champions League changes that will entrench the richest clubs; damage the English football pyramid; and rip off fans.

Our groups represent fans that support teams across the Premier League.

We are united in opposition to proposals to reform the Champions League that are a back door attempt to return to the discredited idea of a European Super League.

Last year it was our supporter groups that united to force the collapse of the European Super League. At the time UEFA told us that fans were the heart of the game and promised our views would be centre stage in deciding what came next.

So it is with great dismay that we now face the prospect of changes to the Champions League that will mean many more group games being played and entry for some clubs being based on a so called ‘five year European co-efficient’.

These proposals will only make the gap between the rich and the rest bigger, wreck domestic calendars and expect fans to sacrifice yet more time and money attending meaningless group games.

Fans do not want even more European games, especially drawn out group stages of ten games and then an extra knock out round. As a cost of living crisis hits Europe it is irresponsible and out of touch to even be considering imposing yet more games on loyal fans who face a doubling in the number of home games they will have to attend before the last 16 knock out round even begins.

We also fear for the future of the FA and League cups which are vital redistributive mechanisms in our football pyramid.

We are calling on UEFA and the UEFA Exco to specifically reject any plans that:

Do not base entry to the Champions League on sporting merit performance in that season’s domestic league.
Increase overall the number of games in the competition. If this goes ahead it will put further pressure on the pockets of fans and also damage the welfare of players who are being asked to play too much football.

Premier League fans do not want ten group games and a small cartel of rich clubs further distorting competitive balance. We want strong, competitive domestic leagues, an equal opportunity for all to qualify for Europe based on sporting merit, and fairer sharing of the game’s wealth from the revenues the competition earns.

Last year we engaged in constructive discussions with UEFA President Ceferin who committed to us that fans would be listened to in this process. Our collective voice is clear and unified and our position clear.

It is time for UEFA to demonstrate that it acts in the interests of the wider football community and its supporters, not just the interests of the few rich investor

UEFA Champions League Reform