High-profile visit for Frankfurt’s Eintracht: to travel to the Europa League semi-final second leg against West Ham United. The background is also of a sporting-political nature.
There’s no doubt that the Hessen fans are capable of creating a very special atmosphere at international matches, and word of this has also reached the association’s headquarters in Nyon. However, the trip to Frankfurt for this Thursday’s match against the Londoners is not representative: apparently, President Aleksander Ceferin, General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis and his deputy Giorgio Marchetti, also exchange views with the Hessians on Champions League reform.
In this topic, Axel Hellmann, Eintracht’s board spokesman, had last week sharply criticised the planned introduction of two Champions League wildcards based on historic success from 2024. Hellmann spoke of the need for middle-class clubs in particular to organise themselves better in order to better position their own interests, such as competitive equality, with a strong voice.
At the end of the week, the “European Leagues” (EL) league association sounded the same horn and also advocated a reduction of the ten Champions League preliminary round matches planned from 2024 to eight. It cannot be ruled out that EL representatives will also use the semi-final second leg in Frankfurt for an informal exchange with UEFA’s top management.
UEFA Congress on 11 May
It was probably not by chance that Hellmann and the leagues put the topic on the agenda last week. The UEFA Congress will take place in Vienna on 11 May. In the run-up to the congress, the Club Competitions Committee, which is dominated by the European Club Association (ECA) and responsible for the club competitions, as well as the Executive Committee are to discuss the reform.