Ajax Chief Executive Edwin Van der Sar has revealed that he’s spoken to Celtic counterpart Peter Lawwell regarding UEFA changes.
Van der Sar’s Ajax are currently breaking the mould in the Champions League. They knocked Real Madrid out of the last-16 of the competition nearly two weeks ago. The Dutch champions are in the quarter-finals, but it hasn’t stopped them from looking to make UEFA changes.
Both Van der Sar and Lawwell are part of the European Club Association (ECA). According to the Sun, the body met last month to discuss shaping UEFA policy. The goal, of course, is to try and stop powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich getting too far ahead financially.
And, speaking in the Scottish Sun, Van der Sar touched on the discussions with Lawwell.
“I have been talking to Peter Lawwell for some time. The ECA is talking to Uefa, trying to make sure there’s more participation and possibilities for clubs from medium and smaller countries, so we can develop and play football at this level.
“Many of us are looking at a different way of how teams are set up and how the competition is set up. Maybe we should look at the club’s co-efficient and see what they have done in Europe, rather than the national co-efficient. And not just recent years.
“That is the difficulty for clubs in those countries. Celtic and Ajax are historic clubs and they have both won the European Cup. That is why it is difficult for us not to be involved. We see the Champions League running away from us a little bit.”
Not enough change over the last several years
Outside of Financial Fair Play (FFP), there hasn’t been enough done to bring Europe’s richest closer to the rest.
FFP was formed to make sure clubs don’t spend more than they earn. But, the problem with that is that it solidifies the so-called big clubs in world football.
The likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Man City can still spend a colossal amount more than their lower European rivals as they rake in so much in terms of profit.
Hopefully one of the possibilities being discussed by the ECA is the qualification route to the Champions League. Sides such as Celtic have to now go through four qualification rounds before they can enter the competition. That’s despite being Champions of their own league.
Clubs such as Red Star Belgrade, Rosenborg, Malmo, and APOEL Nicosia also had to enter at that stage this season alone. That’s also despite having previous success in Europe.
Fans, however, will want to start seeing some progress to these discussions soon. But in which direction they go, nobody truly knows. At least, for the likes of Celtic and Ajax, they’re seeing something trying to be done by their respective clubs.
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