Welsh clubs could face huge implications under reported UEFA plans

Cardiff Met Uni v Progres Niederkorn in the Europa League Preliminary Round at Leckwith Stadium. Lewis Mitchell/YCPD.

UEFA are considering huge changes to qualifying for the 2020/21 Champions League and Europa League.

A report from The Times says that big changes could be afoot into how teams qualify for their two major domestic tournaments, wth Wales being affected.

Next season’s Champions League is due to start at the later time of October after being pushed back by coronavirus pandemic, but question marks have been left on how qualifying will work.

In the report by The Times, they list some proposals which are being mooted by the European governing body.

One is having one-legged qualification rounds rather than two with games being played at a neutral venue.

Barry Town v Cliftonville in the Europa League Preliminary Round at Leckwith Stadium. Lewis Mitchell/YCPD.

Another idea could see Wales shunned for Champions League qualifying. A play-off round for the 12 highest-ranked countries who aren’t in the group stages would be put together in one round.

Wales are currently 48th out of the 55 nations in terms of association ranking of coefficient so the Welsh champions would miss out on the chance of qualifying for the Champions League group stages.

Instead, clubs who miss out on the chance of qualifying would be financially compensated by UEFA.

This could have huge implications on Welsh clubs who usually enter at the early rounds of qualifying and are reliant on money from European campaigns.

Last summer, Welsh domestic clubs made a total of £1.7m, highlighting how important European qualification is to Wales.

Based on coefficient points, Wales are due to have one team involved in the first round of qualifying in the 2020/21 Champions League, one team in the preliminary rounds for the 2020/2021 Europa League and two teams in the first qualifying round.

However, for the Europa League, only 17 out of the 48 clubs automatically qualify for the group stage, leaving qualification open for the rest of the teams.

A decision for European matters could be made on May 27 when a UEFA executive committee takes place through a teleconference.

Lars Christer-Olsson, the European League president said: “Everyone would like to see some kind of sporting criteria used to secure qualification — but ultimately the coronavirus will decide.”

No decision has been made yet on how the Welsh domestic season will conclude but bosses are due to meet remotely this Friday to discuss the next steps to concluding the campaign.

(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)