‘Don’t freeze Scotland out’

UEFA’s proposed changes to the make-up of the Champions League could ‘irreversibly damage’ Scottish football and other leagues across the continent, according to Scottish Professional Football League chief executive Neil Doncaster.

The Champions League is set for an overhaul from 2018, with the top four divisions given four automatic qualifying berths to the group stages, with the move coming about to placate any talk of Europe’s biggest clubs forming a breakaway competition.

The decision, which is yet to be fully ratified, could see the Scottish champions miss out on qualification to what Doncaster claimed would become a ‘closed shop’ Champions League competition.

“The threat is very real, very significant,” he said at the Leaders 2016 conference held at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

“We are only talking about the cycle of 2018-21 but the direction of travel that UEFA have embarked upon is a very dangerous route.

“It threatens the very future of very top-level football and it is vital that a line is drawn in the sand now and the EPFL (European Professional Football Leagues) take the firm stand that is required and start the pulling back of the very damning proposals.

“It is important to be a domestic champion club, that is the same across Europe, it is about access to the top-tier of European competitive football with the other champions of European football.

“Remove that and you fundamentally remove what is important about being a champion in a domestic contest. You would damage irreversibly the mid-level domestic leagues.

“You would see interest in all the leagues that are excluded inevitably declining and that would damage the game.”

Asked about the proposed …

continue reading in source www.skysports.com