Decision on revised Champions League put back until April 19

A decision on whether a new format for the Champions League will be implemented has been put back to April 19.

UEFA’s executive committee was reportedly expected to sanction changes to Europe’s premier club competition post-2024 at a meeting on Wednesday.

The topic will still be discussed, but there will be no announcement until next month, UEFA has clarified.

Under the proposed amendments to the Champions League, there would be a 10-match first phase, with the current group stage scrapped.

There would also be 36 teams to qualify rather than 32 and two clubs could receive ‘wildcard’ entries.

Those wildcards would be handed out to clubs with the highest UEFA co-efficient – points ranking clubs on their past European success – who qualified for the Europa League but missed out on the Champions League due to the position they finished in their domestic competition.

A statement from the governing body said: “UEFA can confirm that a meeting of the executive committee will take place tomorrow, Wednesday March 31, and that the future of club competitions post-2024 will be one of the topics discussed.

“However, any official decision in this respect will only be made at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on April 19, in order to finalise ongoing discussions.”