QUOTE
G14 Oppose Platini's Planned Champions League Changes
G14 - Europe's most powerful clubs - will not back Uefa president Michel Platini's plan to give domestic cup winners a Champions League place.
The elite G14 group of Europe's top clubs, who this week announced plans to expand membership by the end of the year, possibly to as many as 40 or 50 clubs, have made it clear they will not support Michel Platini's to change the criteria for entry into the Champions League.
Uefa president wants to allocate a Champions League place to domestic cup winners.
But G14's general manager Thomas Kurth said: "We're opposed to giving cup winners a place in the Champions League.
"We're very concerned about the quality of the competition and the damage this could cause," he added.
Platini's proposals, which could begin in 2009, would mean that in England, for example, the Premier League's top three and the FA Cup winners would qualif for the Champions League.
His proposals would give 16 cup winners a separate qualifying route into Uefa's premier club competition, and an allocation of four automatic places in the lucrative group stages.
The proposed changes were discussed by Uefa's Professional Football Strategy Council last month, but after some opposition from the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), Platini deferred the final vote by Uefa's executive by one month.
The EPFL, which represents leagues such as the English Premier League, Spain's Primera Liga and Italy's Serie A, was given until the end of October to come up with alternative proposals.
Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick has described Platini's plan as a "perfectly reasonable suggestion."
Goal.com
And so it begins
This post has been edited by Rossoneri7: Sep 14 2007, 02:11 AM