Clubs push for promotion-relegation in European competitions

By: Rob Harris, The Associated Press Posted: 7:22 AM CDT Thursday, Apr. 25, 2019 Last Modified: 7:22 AM CDT Thursday, Apr. 25, 2019

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LONDON - The head of the European Club Association says the existing Champions League format should be overhauled to introduce promotion and relegation.

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LONDON - The head of the European Club Association says the existing Champions League format should be overhauled to introduce promotion and relegation.

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This article was published 25/04/2019 (2718 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON – The head of the European Club Association says the existing Champions League format should be overhauled to introduce promotion and relegation.

ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli, who runs Juventus, wrote in a letter to the organization’s 232 clubs that “European matches with higher sporting quality and a more competitive environment at all levels” are desired.

That points to more games between elite clubs in a formatted Champions League after 2024 rather than less attractive games that can feature in the group stage.

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 24, 1995 file photo, Ajax players Clarence Seedorf, left, Frank Rijkaard, center, and Edgar Davids, right, hold the Champions League European Cup Trophy Aloft as they celebrate their 1-0 victory over AC Milan in Vienna. Ajax is a team that many soccer fans around the world just love to love, especially when they win with flair in a competition like the Champions League. Their victory against Juventus on Tuesday, April 16 - coming only a few weeks after the team eliminated three-time defending champion Real Madrid in the last 16 - put Ajax through to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate. They will next face either Manchester City or Tottenham. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)

Agnelli wrote “a pyramidal Pan European League System with continuity and opportunity to grow from within enhancement of mobility and dynamism across the system through carefully applied promotion and relegation.”

While stressing that entry to competitions should be on “sporting meritocracy, not historical privilege,” Agnelli says European competitions should be “open to all — keeping the dream alive.”

Agnelli has told his members to boycott a meeting being staged by the European Leagues group in Madrid on May 6-7.