UEFA Champions League spots to be decided on ‘sporting merit’

Lyon (Switzerland), April 23 (IANS): The UEFA Champions League spots for next season could be decided on a points-per-game basis if leagues in Europe are unable to finish their season this year. European football’s governing body’s executive committee met on Thursday to decide on the issue and several others as the game grapples with the implications of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to The Times, the committee has decided that it will decide qualifications on the basis of “sporting merit,” as opposed to the UEFA coefficient ranking. However, there has been no update for what happens to Manchester City’s spot from the Premier League in such a scenario. City is second on the Premier League table but was slapped with a two-year ban earlier in the year for breach of Financial Fair Play rules.

Earlier it was reported that UEFA was mulling restarting the Champions League in August.

According to a report on Sky Sports Italia, the first of the remaining matches in the Round of 16 will be played on August 7 and 8 after which there will be matches every three days until August 29 when the final is scheduled to be held.

The semi-final will be on August 18-18 and 21-22 before the final in Istanbul.

This would also result in the group stage of the 2020/21 season of the Champions League being postponed to October 20.