Barcelona warn of breakaway European league

Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2011 by The Sun

Barcelona warn of breakaway European league
TOP OF THE PILE ... mighty Barca celebrate Champions League triumph

A BREAKAWAY European league will start in 2014 unless world football caves in to demands from the big clubs.

That was the threat last night by Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, who is pushing for the biggest revolution for decades.

His massive overhaul would involve cutting the Premier League from 20 to 16 teams to expand the Champions League.

And Rosell, vice-chairman of the powerful European Club Association, last night gave UEFA a blunt warning.

He said: "If UEFA and the ECA reach an agreement, we would like to increase the Champions League under the umbrella of UEFA. If not, the ECA is entitled to organise their own champions competition."

The current peace deal between UEFA and the clubs, sealed in a Memorandum of Understanding, runs out in 2014.

Rosell said European champions Barcelona would not sign a new agreement with UEFA or a similar treaty with FIFA unless the governing bodies gave them what they wanted.

The demands, which threaten to tear football apart, include:

An expanded Champions League with up to eight teams from one country competing and big games played at weekends.

A total revamp of the international football calendar, including the reduction or even abolition of friendly matches.

Payment to clubs for the release of players to take part in the World Cup, European Championship and other tournaments.

A bigger share of money generated by football and a greater say in how the game is run.

Rosell wants La Liga cut from 20 to 16 teams to allow Barcelona to organise lucrative friendly matches and to free up weekends for Champions League clashes which would draw huge worldwide TV audiences.

He admits that the other major European leagues, including the English top flight, would also have to downsize to make his concept work. But he believes it would be possible to bring the majority of the ECA's 200 or so members along with him.

Rosell, speaking at the Aspire 4 Sport conference in Qatar, said: "We would like to have a Champions League with more teams, which would mean in the future we could play Barcelona versus Manchester United on a Saturday or Sunday, at the quarter-final stage, for example.

"In Spain we have four clubs in the Champions League. If you increase that to eight, the other four would be in favour.

"First we have to convince the Premier League to reduce from 20 to 16 teams as well. All the national leagues will have to be convinced of the benefits."

It is believed England's top sides are keen on the plan. Clubs have threatened breakaway leagues before but pulled back after winning concessions from UEFA about the Champions League and Europa League.

But this time they are pushing for an overhaul of the club and international game.

Rosell said: "We have to review completely the calendar of UEFA and FIFA. They use our players for, I think, about 120 days every two years.

"We don't think it's fair we pay the salaries and they use our players and get other income by using our players. They need to reduce their own calendar, especially taking out friendlies.

"We hope FIFA and UEFA will hear what we want to tell them. The worst-case scenario is we'll go away from UEFA."

Manchester United chief executive David Gill flew to Zurich last week for a crisis meeting with ECA members.

Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, of Bayern Munich, is believed to have told his co-conspirators that his talks with UEFA and FIFA had brought little progress.