Tebas: "The new UCL format will spell the death for domestic competitions"
The head of LaLiga blasted the ECA (European Club Association) proposal during Sunday's Carrusel Deportivo.
Javier Tebas spoke on today's Carrusel Deportivo radio show to commemorate the 90th anniversary of LaLiga and spelt out his feelings on the new proposed Champions League format.
The proposed format. "They talk of reform but it's as good as a new format for just 32 clubs and a series of groups with a promotion and relegation system. Early studies have already established that this could spell the death for domestic league competitions.
Smaller clubs in Europe. "This will be very complicated. Teams like Sevilla or Valencia will find it extremely difficult to break into the top echelon and you'll have a case such as Atlético Madrid for example, who will be happy to remain playing in the new Champions and won't be bothered if they were to get relegated to the Second division".
UEFA. "I really feel that people are not aware what's being discussed behind closed doors. They are supposed to present the new format to us next Tuesday and I feel we'll be shown the model that has been put together by the ECA and UEFA over the past year. Most people already know that we are firmly against this initiative and even though it won't be implemented for seven or eight years, it will see domestic leagues reduced to the second level. I don't believe this is something that Ceferin wants, but I fear he's listening too much to his advisers. This is a drive that the Italian , French and many more leagues have said they are not in favour of. I hope we can do something to stop this catastrophic move".
Future. "We'll seek a meeting with the ECA members and talk directly to club presidents. We've already made some headway with the idea of weekend games in the new format now being ruled out"