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A third UEFA European club competition is set to be launched from the start of the 2021/22 season.
President of the European Club Association (ECA), Andrea Agnelli, confirmed this on Tuesday in his opening address at the ECA’s biannual general meeting in Split.
The Juventus chairman said: “Pending approval of the UEFA executive committee, the green light has been given to introduce a third competition, bringing the overall number of clubs to 96, as of the 2021/22 season.”
The new competition will lead to the reduction of teams in the Europa League group stage from 48 to 32. The new competition, as well as the already existing Champions League and Europa League, will all have 32 teams each in their group stages.
The move is seen as UEFA’s way of raising the profile of the Europa League, giving more clubs a shot at European competition and ultimately generating more financial benefits.
UEFA at the weekend kicked off its new European competition for countries, the UEFA Nations League in addition to the prestigious Euro Cup held every four years.