New Uefa Cup Format Proposed
UEFA and Europe's clubs are to discuss proposals for a new format for the UEFA Cup as part of moves to enhance the image and financial viability of European football's second major club competition.
The clubs will join with European football's governing body within the new European Club Forum to debate a new model proposed by UEFA for the competition, which both sides agree is in need of a fresh profile in the current sporting and commercial climate.
The model would involve a 40-club group stage as well as four knockout phases, with the UEFA Cup winners qualifying directly for European club football's most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League.
UEFA and the clubs will now discuss the model in working groups, with the objective being to present a proposal to the UEFA Executive Committee for decision by the end of this year. The revamped competition would start in the 2003/04 season.
At a meeting of the UEFA Club Panel in Nyon, the UEFA Cup competition in its current format was described as 'an unsatisfactory product in a declining market', amid stagnating TV audience and revenue figures.
Europe's clubs have also requested a group phase in the UEFA Cup, as part of overall attempts to revitalise the financial and sporting impact of the competition.
'We have to make it a product that makes an impression in the market as an attractive alternative to the UEFA Champions League,' UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner told the meeting.
In the proposed model, UEFA has put forward the idea of an 80-team first round played under the knockout system, following a qualifying phase yet to be determined.
The 40 first-round winners would then contest a group phase in eight groups of five teams each, with each team playing two home games and two away games. Two teams from each group would then enter a further knockout round, and the competition would culminate in quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.
As from the group phase, the competition would comprise 13 match days and 109 matches. The full competition as from the first round would consist of 189 matches, and there would be no feed from the UEFA Champions League after the start of the competition.
The present UEFA Cup has a 96-team field for the first round following a qualifying phase, with 13 match days and 205 matches as from the first round. The whole competition is played on a knockout basis, and clubs finishing in third place in the eight UEFA Champions League first-stage groups join the UEFA Cup in the third round.
Another element within UEFA's proposals model involves two fixed kick-off times, possibly 19.00CET or 21.00CET, replacing the staggered kick-off times currently in operation.
UEFA's projection is that the proposed UEFA Cup model would bring in double the TV revenue of the approximately €103m generated under the current format. Both UEFA and the clubs favour the centralised marketing of TV rights, based on the same principles that have made the UEFA Champions League an unqualified sporting and financial success.
For further information please contact:
Uefa
T: +41 22 994 45 59
F: +41 22 994 37 37
E: info@uefa.com
W: uefa.com
The clubs will join with European football's governing body within the new European Club Forum to debate a new model proposed by UEFA for the competition, which both sides agree is in need of a fresh profile in the current sporting and commercial climate.
The model would involve a 40-club group stage as well as four knockout phases, with the UEFA Cup winners qualifying directly for European club football's most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League.
UEFA and the clubs will now discuss the model in working groups, with the objective being to present a proposal to the UEFA Executive Committee for decision by the end of this year. The revamped competition would start in the 2003/04 season.
At a meeting of the UEFA Club Panel in Nyon, the UEFA Cup competition in its current format was described as 'an unsatisfactory product in a declining market', amid stagnating TV audience and revenue figures.
Europe's clubs have also requested a group phase in the UEFA Cup, as part of overall attempts to revitalise the financial and sporting impact of the competition.
'We have to make it a product that makes an impression in the market as an attractive alternative to the UEFA Champions League,' UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner told the meeting.
In the proposed model, UEFA has put forward the idea of an 80-team first round played under the knockout system, following a qualifying phase yet to be determined.
The 40 first-round winners would then contest a group phase in eight groups of five teams each, with each team playing two home games and two away games. Two teams from each group would then enter a further knockout round, and the competition would culminate in quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.
As from the group phase, the competition would comprise 13 match days and 109 matches. The full competition as from the first round would consist of 189 matches, and there would be no feed from the UEFA Champions League after the start of the competition.
The present UEFA Cup has a 96-team field for the first round following a qualifying phase, with 13 match days and 205 matches as from the first round. The whole competition is played on a knockout basis, and clubs finishing in third place in the eight UEFA Champions League first-stage groups join the UEFA Cup in the third round.
Another element within UEFA's proposals model involves two fixed kick-off times, possibly 19.00CET or 21.00CET, replacing the staggered kick-off times currently in operation.
UEFA's projection is that the proposed UEFA Cup model would bring in double the TV revenue of the approximately €103m generated under the current format. Both UEFA and the clubs favour the centralised marketing of TV rights, based on the same principles that have made the UEFA Champions League an unqualified sporting and financial success.
For further information please contact:
Uefa
T: +41 22 994 45 59
F: +41 22 994 37 37
E: info@uefa.com
W: uefa.com