The Premier League have vowed to "protect" their product after issuing a statement condemning an "inappropriate" Champions League revamp proposal. Juventus president and head of the European Club Association, Andrea Agnelli, is understood to be ramping up the proposal which would effectively make the top European competition a closed shop. The change would make battling for a top four finish to reach the Champions League a thing of the past - and the Premier League have released their take insisting they are not in favour. The changes would not go through until 2024 but would involve the current structure of eight groups of four teams changing to four groups of eight teams. The proposals would ring-fence the world's premier clubs by automatically qualifying the top 24 sides from the previous year's competition and leaving just eight spots for new teams. The Premier League statement read: "All 20 Premier League clubs today discussed their significant concerns regarding reported … [Read more...] about Premier League issue statement in response to Champions League revamp proposal
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Premier League clubs issue statement on Champions League plans
Premier League clubs including Manchester United and Manchester City have hit back at reported proposals for the Champions League to be overhauled from the 2024/25 season. Teams from the top tier have today discussed numerous potential changes to the Champions League which included dramatically increasing the number of games played and altering the way teams qualify for the competition. The plans have been championed by Andrea Agnelli, Juventus’ chairman and Executive Member of the European Football Association. Rather than eight groups of four teams it would change to four groups of eight teams, therefore making group stages 14 matches long before the last 16, with domestic cups potentially under threat. Couple that with the suggestion that the qualification process could change and become more of a closed shop, there is no wonder Premier League clubs have responded with a strong statement today insisting they will fight those changes. “All 20 Premier League clubs today … [Read more...] about Premier League clubs issue statement on Champions League plans
Liverpool could be affected by drastic Champions League changes
Premier League clubs including Liverpool are today discussing the possible impact of drastic changes to the Champions League . The clubs will assemble at a shareholders meeting to debate the pros and cons of a dramatic increase in the amount of group matches of Europe's premier competition. Liverpool had to contend with just six group matches this season before making it through to the knockout stages. However, Juventus are one of the key clubs aiming to completely change the group stages of the Champions League . Chairman Andrea Agnelli is also an Executive Member of the European Football Association. The radical plans include altering the opening stages from eight groups of four teams to four groups of eight teams. This would mean 14 group matches for sides before the top four from each go on to the last 16. It’s also said that the domestic top-four qualification process for the Champions League could be abandoned in favour of something more of a closed shop which … [Read more...] about Liverpool could be affected by drastic Champions League changes
Champions League changes which could affect Man Utd and Man City
Premier League clubs including Manchester United and Manchester City are set to discuss the potential impact of radical changes to the Champions League. The club’s will assemble at a shareholders meeting today to debate the pros and cons of an increase in the amount of Champions League group matches. Man Utd and Man City had to content with just six group matches this season before making it through to the knockout stages. But Juventus are one of the key clubs aiming to completely change the group stages of the Champions League. Juventus’ chairman Andrea Agnelli is also an Executive Member of the European Football Association. The radical plans include altering the group stages from eight groups of four teams to four groups of eight teams. It’s also said that the top-four qualification process could be abandoned in favour of something more of a closed shop which could serve the most historically successful clubs across Europe. All of these issues will be on the … [Read more...] about Champions League changes which could affect Man Utd and Man City
Celebrating the Champions of business in Coventry and Warwickshire
Leading lights of business across the county have been held up as examples to inspire others. The success of some impressive companies was highlighted at a Coventry and Warwickshire Champions event at the Ricoh Arena attended by 200 business leaders.Among the star performers was ParentPay, based at the Ricoh Arena, and which provides online payment services for schools.The assembled business chiefs heard ParentPay’s chief executive Clint Wilson praise the company’s founder, Lynne Taylor, for the idea which sparked the success of the business which now dominates its market across the UK.He said: “Lynne’s simple idea came from her own experiences as a parent and the lack of a convenient solution for sending money to school for trips and lunches, other than children carrying cash.“There had to be a better way. And so, ParentPay was born.”“Continuous investment and a lot of hard work has seen us expand to the size we are now, with 13,500 UK schools … [Read more...] about Celebrating the Champions of business in Coventry and Warwickshire