February 5 – Barcelona president Sandro Rosell may have departed but the club’s vice-president is continuing Rosell’s legacy of calling for changes to the structure of the game.
During his tenure, Rosell, who recently stood down in the wake of the Neymar transfer saga, several times recommended that European leagues be slashed to 18 teams, or even 16, in order to upgrade the Champions League.
Barca vice president Javier Faus has now come out with pretty much the same stance, supporting UEFA proposals being studied to expand the Champions League from 32 to 64 clubs.
“We want to see the Champions League expanded and at the same time national leagues should be reduced from 20 clubs down to 18 or even maybe 16,” said Faus. “We are not in favour of national leagues being eliminated as they are at the centre of fans’ hearts and I can’t imagine that ever happening.”
With sections of Spanish football in deep financial crisis, Faus says it might be time to introduce sharing television rights rather than allow clubs to continue to negotiate their own deals.
“It is something that will change,” he told Reuters. “Barca are leading a group of 30 or so clubs that want to have television rights consolidated into a pool like in the UK or Germany so as to have a more balanced distribution and make the league more competitive.”
“It is something that would help us all but we shouldn’t forget that the interest in Spanish football around the world is because of Barca and Real Madrid,” he added. There will be a new distribution within the next year or two and we will have it in place by 2016.
“We are continuing to speak to other clubs, the league and the government. We are all on the same page, there are only a few differences.”
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