Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has namechecked Celtic when speaking about the reform of the Champions League.
The Italian, who wants to abolish qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition, reckons teams like Celtic could benefit from the new reforms that would see more emphasis placed on performance in Europe.
Speaking at the Leaders Sports Business Summit in London, Agnelli said: “It’s right that if you perform in the international system, you stay in the international system. (Daily Record)
“It would be great for clubs like Ajax, Celtic, Warsaw knowing they can stay in Europe and not have to qualify via domestic system.”
The reforms are likely to come into play in 2024. UEFA are said to be currently in dialogue with the European Club Association and European Leagues – who represent more than 30 European domestic divisions.
Celtic are at least in the Champions League discussion
It’s encouraging to hear Celtic mentioned by Agnelli but you do wonder where his intentions really lie. He is the president of Juventus – a club from one of Europe’s biggest leagues who routinely qualify for the Champions League.
Surely the plans to have more emphasis placed on European competitions would help clubs from the bigger leagues who risk missing out if they have a bad domestic season. Teams like Celtic and Ajax are pretty much always assured to qualify for the Champions League, although they do have to play qualifiers.
Time will tell what goes on with the reform discussions. But at least we can take away the positive that Celtic’s name is being discussed.
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