German league rejects Champions League reform proposals

AFP  |  Berlin 

The (DFL) and its member clubs have unanimously rejected proposals to reform the

The reforms were initially proposed by the (ECA), of which 13 DFL clubs including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also members.

They have since been considered by UEFA, despite being met with fierce criticism from Europe's domestic leagues.

"The currently discussed concept of the would have unacceptable consequences for the national leagues in and should therefore not be implemented in this form," said DFL

"We must not allow the traditional national leagues to become less attractive for millions of people across the continent," he said.

The initial proposals, put forward by the in March, envisaged a single, three-tiered European competition with internal promotion and relegation, effectively making it harder for smaller clubs to break into European competition.

Documents seen by AFP last week revealed were working on similar reforms, with plans to reshape into four pools of eight teams, with only four of the 32 participants qualifying through their national leagues.

Yet Seifert said the DFL were "convinced" that understood the importance of the domestic leagues, and would show "foresight" in the reform process.

"Any reform of the already very successful European club competitions would have to be satisfactory for all participants, not just a few," said Seifert.

He warned that if the national leagues were to suffer, it would do long term damage to European football.

"That cannot be in the interest of UEFA," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, May 15 2019. 21:11 IST