European Club Association (ECA) president Andrea Agnelli has announced that UEFA is set to launch a third European club competition, debuting in the 2021-22 season.
Agnelli was speaking at the ECA's general meeting on Tuesday, when he revealed the news of UEFA's intention to bring in another competition to work alongside the Champions League and Europa League:
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 arrival of a third European club competition would see the number of clubs that compete in the Europa League fall from 48 to 32, meaning that all three leagues would have the same number of clubs competing in them. This would increase the number of clubs competing in Europe from 80 to 96.
The Cup Winners' Cup had acted as Europe's third club competition until it was scrapped in 1999, with domestic cup winners currently entering the Europa League.
Agnelli, who is also president of Juventus football club, also spoke of the need to examine international schedules in his ECA address in Split:
A detailed assessment of the existing international match calendar is required prior to presenting a new model post-2024. The current model needs modernising.
