Uefa in 'advanced talks' to set up a summer Champions League

OneFootball

Alex Mott·5 March 2020

Uefa in 'advanced talks' to set up a summer Champions League

Uefa are set to give their backing to a ‘summer Champions League’ which would be in direct competition with Fifa’s new Club World Cup.

A report in several outlets across Europe on Thursday, including the Daily Mail, has claimed that European football’s governing body is in advanced talks to set up a new competition that would take place every summer from 2021.

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It is the brainchild of Relevant Sports who currently run the International Champions Cup, a pre-season tournament that has attracted most of the game’s biggest clubs since its inception in 2013.

Uefa’s endorsement would transform the exhibition matches into a legitimate tournament that would act as a rival to the new Club World Cup.

Fifa have confirmed that their new tournament will take place every four years and will involve 24 teams from across the globe.

This new summer Champions League from Uefa however would include:

A group format with pools of three teams followed by a knockout phase
A commitment by all competing teams to play their first-choice squads
Participation to be determined by domestic league placing rather than invitation
An annual event that would be held in the United States

The revamped CWC has run into issues recently with clubs believed to want an equity share which Fifa are unwilling to grant.

It’s as yet unclear as to whether Uefa would offer something similar to bring clubs into their tournament, however talks with all the major parties are believed to be at ‘an advanced stage’.