Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says European league a possibility in the future
ByReuters
Updated 14/01/2016 at 15:21 GMT
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the association which represents Europe's biggest football clubs, believes a European league is a possibility in the future, he has told a German newspaper.
ECA (European Club Association) chairman and Bayern Munich's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge speaks
Image credit: AFP
"I don't rule out that in the future a European league will be founded, in which the biggest teams from Italy, Germany, England, Spain and France will play," Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported him as saying.
"The football system will adjust to the new challenges of globalisation," he added.
Rummenigge, who is chairman of European Clubs Association ECA and chief executive of Bayern Munich, was speaking at an event in Milan on Tuesday.
The ECA said in a statement that the idea had never been discussed at their meetings.
"There's a lot of discussion around the future of European competitions at the moment, as always ahead of a new competition cycle," said an ECA spokesman. "However, the idea of a European league as reported did not form part of any discussion at ECA."
European club competition runs in three-year cycles and major changes to the structure, such as the addition of new competitions, only takes place at the end of each cycle. The current cycle will end after the 2017/18 season.
Proposals for a so-called European Super League, featuring the top clubs from around the continent, have come and gone over the years.
In 1998, Milan-based sports marketing company Media Partners held talks with leading clubs including AC Milan and Manchester United in 1998 as they sought to build support for a breakaway league.
FIFA threatened national associations, clubs and players with suspension if they linked up with the proposed Super League.
European soccer's governing body UEFA finally killed the plan by expanding their premier competition, the Champions League, offering clubs a greater slice of television and sponsorship revenue, and upping prize money.
The Champions League group stage was expanded from 24 to 32 teams while the Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup competitions were merged to form what is now known as the Europa League.
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