bye-bye Champions League. The most successful club competition in the world is in its final stages, at least in the mode we have known it for twenty years. The premier class with 32 teams in eight groups of four teams each, from which the best 16 participants now go into the knockout phase, is already a thing of the past. From next season onwards, the number of participants will increase to 36 – and the group phase will be transformed into a league phase in which each club is guaranteed eight games against eight different opponents (four home and away games each) instead of the previous six games against three teams.
Millions of fans and many clubs only have a faint idea of how this massive change with a hundred additional games will be received sportingly, emotionally and financially. But it is already becoming apparent that this new format, which is set to last until the 2026/27 season, could only be a short interlude.
Ever since the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made its sensational ruling on the Super League a few days before Christmas – the consequences of which associations and clubs are currently gaining clarity on – one thing has already been clear: we are in an extremely dynamic economic, sporting and geopolitical environment Club football is facing upheavals that it has never experienced since the founding of the European Champions Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League, in 1955. Since the ECJ showed the European Football Union (UEFA)'s monopoly claim the red card, the motto has been: Nothing is impossible in club football anymore.
Test for the cash cow
In concrete terms, this means: The new form of the Champions League could already be a model from yesterday, even before the first ball rolls in the new mode. What's more: the Champions League, UEFA's cash cow, is facing its biggest test overall. And with it UEFA, the guardian of the grail of the premier class. According to the Luxembourg ruling, the clubs are not only allowed to have a say in changes or the creation of new formats – they can also block and have a say.
But the developers of the Super League, who are celebrating the judge's decision, could end up becoming victims of their own legal success. Because after the noise of the battle between UEFA and A 22 gradually dies down, it dawns on the professional clubs and their representatives: When two people argue, the third one is happy. And that is themselves.
Look me in the eyes: FIFA boss Gianni Infantino gets into position.
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Image: Witters
In addition, another player has taken a position in the background that hardly anyone had expected so far, but which can also become the winner in the battle for the European sinecure in club football: the International Football Association (FIFA) with its shrewd, unscrupulous president Gianni Infantino at the helm.
But first things first: The verdict turned the football pyramid on its head. So far, football has been organized hierarchically, almost absolutistly – with FIFA at the top of the pyramid, including the various continental associations such as UEFA. This is followed by national associations such as the German Football Association and the German Football League, which are responsible for the professionals. The base of the pyramid are the professional clubs. Without them nothing works, but so far they have had little to say internationally. This is currently changing with the verdict – fundamentally.
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