The European Club Association’s (ECA) plan for a Champions League reform has been quashed with just three of the 98 clubs voting in favour.

Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona voted for the reform which would see radical changes to the current Champions League format.

In Italy’s Serie A, 15 clubs voted against the plan while AC Milan, Inter, Roma and Fiorentina abstained.

The plan would see 24 of the teams in any given Champions League season retain their spot for the next season, while the remaining eight would be relegated. It would mean domestic results count for little and the lesser clubs in Europe would find it difficult to qualify.

There would be groups of eight teams with a total of 14 games before the knockout stages, compared to the current six.

The ECA, European Leagues and UEFA will meet in September to find a resolution.

Damon Palmar
damon@footballnationradio.com