CL play-off idea snubbed

Chairmen vote against introducing radical proposal

By Peter O'Rourke   Last updated: 4th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

CL play-off idea snubbed

Also see

Premier League chairmen have rejected the idea of introducing a play-off to decide who takes the fourth UEFA Champions League place.

The controversial idea of bringing in play-offs for the final Champions League spot was mooted last month, which would have seen the teams finishing from fourth to seventh fighting it out for the final slot in Europe's premier club competition.

The proposal received a mixed reception from Premier League managers, with some for the idea and some against it.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez was very scathing in his assessment of the idea, feeling it would only add to the fixture congestion in the top-flight.

The idea was examined by Premier League chairmen at their meeting in London on Thursday and they have voted against the scheme, meaning the status quo will be maintained.

Discussion

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore confirmed there was not enough support among the 20 chairmen to push through the proposal.

"The main topic of discussion was the prospect of a Champions League play-off for that fourth qualifying place," Scudamore told Sky Sports News.

"We gave it a lot of discussion, a lot of detail, a lot of data. But there was not enough support to take the idea forward, so we won't be discussing that proposal any further."

Comments (4)

  • Page 1 of 1
  • 1

Seph Unknown (Birmingham City fan) says...

GOOD!!!i hate these stupid ideas about 39th game and fourth place playoff and all these rubbish the premier league is fine the way it is leave it the way it is, i understand if they reduce the number of teams from 20 in the league even though i dont like the idea but as far as the fourth place playoff hell no let whoever earned it keep that spot some teams have enough games as it is already

Posted 16:10 4th March 2010

Ashley Spooner (Liverpool fan) says...

its stupid idea, if it went though just be for money, why only 4th-7th why not 2-5th?next theyll have play-off as survival, 18th plays 17th loser get relegated bottom line, you finish top 4 you get european football, you finish 5th tough had rubbish season

Posted 15:48 4th March 2010

Carl H (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Of course Rafa is against it, Liverpool barely scrape 4th each year so the only team/manager with anything to really lose is Liverpool. I think it would add some spice to what is a resonably stagnant and predictable collection of the same 4 UK entrants each year.

Posted 15:47 4th March 2010

Reece Maugham (Newcastle United fan) says...

its good they are not going with this silly idea although i think we should take a look at the rest of Europe how they do there cup games, i think, all prem teams shouldn¿t play in the carling cup, to give the players more of a rest, and let all the lower teams go in for it and the winner would get in to europa league, it would give the chance for clubs like Forrest, Newcastle and the rest who haven¿t been in euro comp¿s for a long time for them to get in there and for them to have a good cup run, as look at the last 5 years of who has won the carling cup its always been a top 4 team

Posted 15:40 4th March 2010
  • Page 1 of 1
  • 1

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private