UEFA set to scrap Europa League with Champions League being doubled

In recent news Michel Platini has told a French newspaper that the European governing body UEFA is considering the possibility of scrapping the Europa League in favour of doubling the teams in the Champions League. The current number of teams in the Champions League is 32 with the new proposed figure being 64.

Overall this could be an interesting proposition and could help numerous clubs in the current Europa League system financially as well.  In the football year 2011-2012 the UEFA’s Champions league took in £1bn with the Europa League taking in less than a quarter of that figure at £225m. Therefore UEFA could be looking into this proposition in order to gain more financial benefit by making the competition bigger as the Europa league is taking a substantial amount less.

Teams can also benefit financially as well as UEFA. For instance teams in the champion’s league normally earn a lot more compared to teams competing in the Europa League. Winners Chelsea last year earned £49m whereas Europa League winners Atletico Madrid who hammered Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup earlier this season only earned £8.5. That figure is even more staggering compared to the £28m that Man UTD earned despite being eliminated in the group stages, Fulham only earned £2.2m for exiting from the same stage of the Europa League. But by getting rid of the Europa league UEFA then will get rid of the Super Cup competition where the two winners of the competition play against each other, though some may see this as an unfair encounter anyway, Europa league winners Atletico Madrid proved the underdogs could conjure up an exciting performance and come out on top to produce an excellent display of 90 minutes of football.

Though with the extension of teams in the Champions League it probably still wouldn't solve the problem of games taking place on a Thursday night leaving teams tired come their weekend fixtures. Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has stated before how he feels that the Champions League is a lot easier due to the heavier kick off's on a Thursday. UEFA could decide for all game to still be played on a Tuesday and Wednesday but that is more likely not going to be as financially rewarding as to have games still taking place on a Thursday, so the likelihood of this decision getting rid of Thursday European fixtures appears to be very slim. 

One option that I do think could solve this is for games taking place on the Thursday to be played on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays during weeks where there are no European football being played (though this may result in some re-jigging of league fixtures as they could clash with mid-week league games).

With this proposal a lot of the lower rated teams may be eliminated more quickly, though they could still get more money they may not get far in the competition with the top leagues dominating these extra spots. As it currently stand four premier league teams and two Scottish teams qualify for the Champions league every season (though some may go to the qualifying round they still do qualify). 

The new figure will mean that seven Premier League teams and five Scottish teams qualify for the Champions League. There is a possibility that this could ultimately decrease certain aspects on competitiveness in Europe’s leagues such as the premier league. With more teams qualifying it means fewer teams will be fighting for those places as ultimately there would be enough room for most of the teams competing for Europe. Take last season for example in the Premier League; both Manchester clubs had already secured their place near the end of the season with the remaining two places being fought for by Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and surprise package Newcastle. But if the proposal goes ahead then all of those teams would have qualified along with Everton (leaving currently competing in the Europa League Liverpool not qualifying). 

Below: Liverpool Manager Brendan Rodgers gives his views on UEFA's proposal. 

This decision wont be popular with everyone but will with others. The Europa League being scrapped does enable new teams to compete in the competition though and teams such as Everton in the Premier League would have qualified for this seasons champions league if the proposal was in place this season.   

This means that despite one less English club qualifying as a whole into Europa it could take less steamy encounters out of the English league. As you move down the table you tend to find bigger gaps between the top clubs compared to the middle-ish section of the table meaning there is a slight possibility that there could be less competitive matches begin played with teams already securing their places weeks before the end of the season if they are unable to compete for the title. 

This proposal is not expected to take place until the 2015 competition with a final decision expected to be made by 2014. UEFA has got a lot of different things to take into consideration and no matter what decision they take some will and won’t favour it.

Overall I think this statement seems like a step to get more money or to keep the current finances flowing in rather than help the littler clubs in the competition. But as well as this I think that Michel Platini's statement seems like a response to the threat Barcelona chief Rosell made against UEFA in November where he insisted that Europe’s richest clubs would break away form the Champions League if the competition isn’t expanded.  

It is also stated by Rosell that Europe’s biggest leagues should change the number of teams competing in them from 20 to 16 so they can handle the match’s so they don’t affect league performances. UEFA can’t lose those clubs as it has been proven that they earn UEFA the majority of their money than the clubs competing in the Europa. I think this statement has been made by UEFA to try and tell the bigger clubs to stay competing at least for another year so they are able to get another year of similar finances whilst they propose a solution to the potential problem they have. I think that if this proposal isn’t met then another one will have to be made; it’s a risk I can’t see UEFA taking financially. With this UEFA could lead to gaining more finance than they are currently earning in more TV funding given to clubs who would normally compete in the Europa League. Whether Europe’s top league will change the amount of teams in them is a whole different topic and story.