JAKARTA - UEFA denied having changed the Champions League (Champions League) format on Monday, October 6, 2025, local time, after reports emerged of a series of meetings between the European Football Confederation and the European Super League (ESL) discussing the tournament's changes.
On Saturday, October 4, 2025, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported that in recent months, UEFA has met with A22 several times - the company behind the ESL project - as well as representatives of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The meeting, according to Mundo Deportivo, discussed possible reforms to bring the Champions League closer to the ESL model - including more games between the big clubs and free broadcast matches - although no agreement has yet been reached.
Meanwhile, on Monday, October 6, 2025, a source close to the ESL project confirmed to ESPN that negotiations had been carried out with UEFA.
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"We can confirm reports that (Secretary General UEFA) Theodore Theodoridis has met with (one of the founders of A22) Anas Laghrari several times."
"These meetings took place in public spaces. Any assumption that the meeting was a completely false secret."
"No official results have resulted from this conversation. We reiterate that there are no plans to change the format of the Champions League," UEFA told ESPN in a statement.
The Champions League format is currently introduced for the 2024/2025 season, when the old group stage was replaced by the league phase, with 36 participating teams.
A22 submitted its latest ESL proposal in December 2024, for a three league competition and 64 clubs, with inter-liga promotions and relegations, which will be broadcast on a new free streaming service called Unify.
The move follows the European Court's ruling in 2023 which states that UEFA and FIFA have abused their dominant position under EU law in their reaction to ESL launch attempts two years earlier.
Mundo Deportivo further reported that after a series of meetings with UEFA in recent months, ESL has now proposed compromise, implementing changes to the Champions League starting in 2027.
The tournament will continue to use the name Champions League with 36 participating teams divided into two groups based on UEFA rankings for the league phase, ensuring more top inter-team matches.
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