Uefa is considering revolutionary changes to the Champions League that would result in some matches of its elite club tournament being played at weekends, it can be revealed.
The plan, which has been condemned as “unthinkable” by the Premier League, would aim to bring in higher television income from the Far East by providing some matches during the day on Saturdays and Sundays — the prime time for fans in the big markets of China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.
“We are having a series of discussions with the clubs about ways to improve the competition and the possibility of playing Champions League matches at weekends is among the ideas
The idea would be for two or three rounds of Champions League matches to be played at weekends rather than all games. These could either be during the group stage or — to lessen disruption to domestic leagues — the semi-finals or quarter-finals.
Uefa sources have told The Times that any such change would take place in five years’ time because such a major upheaval would need to be part of the international calendar, which is planned several years in advance. It would mean a number of domestic club matches moving to midweek, something that would be highly controversial for some leagues and fiercely resisted by the Premier League.
Uefa has discussed the proposal at senior levels and it has formed part of the talks with officials from the European Clubs’ Association (ECA).
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“We are having a series of discussions with the clubs about ways to improve the competition and the possibility of playing Champions League matches at weekends is among the ideas,” a Uefa source said. “It would only take place for the cycle starting in 2021 because of the international calendar.”
The plan has already won some qualified support from clubs on the continent who see the Far East as the main source of extra TV revenue, and are concerned about the ever-increasing rise in the value of Premier League television rights.
A senior figure at one European club told The Times: “It is definitely under consideration because the only way to increase Champions League revenues is to offer the product in a different time zone. How to deal with the leagues is the problem. But you have the example already in England with the FA Cup played on certain weekends and Premier League matches on weekdays. If all the clubs believe it is a good idea then it can happen.
“To many people it seems a wise attempt to have a much more interesting product in parts of the world that currently have games in the middle of the night — if you give them prime time events then revenues will increase.”
The Premier League believes there has been a steady creep in the demands of the Champions League and will oppose any move to the weekends.
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A Premier League spokesman said: “It is unthinkable that Champions League matches would be played on weekends. Those dates are allocated to domestic competitions. We hope that the good sense of our own FA, Uefa and Fifa would prevail in preventing this.”
The idea is separate to the discussions on any changes to the format of the Champions League that need to be agreed before the autumn, when Uefa will take its television rights for 2018-2021 to the market. There are a number of ideas on those reforms, such as having a knockout round before the group stage to improve the quality of the group matches.
However, the process has stalled while Michel Platini, the Uefa president, has been battling a six-year ban imposed by Fifa’s ethics committee, and while Gianni Infantino, Uefa’s former general secretary, was campaigning for his election as Fifa president.
Platini will learn the outcome of his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday. He and former Fifa president Sepp Blatter were banned for eight years over a SwFr2 million (about £1.45 million) payment to the Frenchman in 2011 — they said it was for an agreement made 11 years earlier. The eight-year ban was later reduced to six years by Fifa’s appeals committee.
