A European Leagues chief has warned the distribution of UEFA competitions cash must be carved up more evenly to avoid a greater divide between the Continent’s haves and have nots.
And Scottish clubs will be hoping the powers-that-be in Nyon listen to Jacco Swart’s comments.
Swart is managing director of the European Leagues group which represents 37 professional divisions across the Continent, including the Scottish Premiership.
The newly-agreed Champions League formats kicks in from 2024 and the revenue projected for the three-year cycle until 2027 is an eye-watering £3.7billion per season.
Celtic go straight into the group stage of European football’s premier competition next season and rivals Rangers are hoping to join them through the qualifiers.
But the Glasgow giants have both missed out in recent seasons and Swart has called for an increased percentage of Champions League revenue to be given in solidarity to non-participating clubs, a greater share to the Europa League and Europa Conference League and a change to how money is divided up.
European Leagues presented data showing that out of £2.95bn in annual income in the current 2021-24 cycle, £2.3bn ends up at 96 participating clubs with just £143.7m then split among 750 non-participating clubs.
Barcelona and Juventus both raked in significantly more despite dropping out at group stage and round of 16 level respectively. The La Liga side earned EUR84.8m, while Juventus accrued EUR82.9m.
But Porto, for example, earned less from their run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2021 than clubs who were eliminated in the previous round.
Swart called for a reduction in the percentages awarded in the Champions League and the Europa League based on historical coefficient and the television market pool.
He told a Club Advisory Platform (CAP) meeting in Amsterdam: "Further drastic changes are urgently needed and unavoidable.
"If nothing changes, differences (within and between leagues) will further grow, and more and more competitions and clubs will suffer the consequences.”
But Manchester United’s finance chief Cliff Baty said: “Whilst I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to give more money (to smaller clubs and those outside European competition) the pie is getting bigger – (and) the reason the broadcasters are paying that much money is for the product, frankly at the Champions League level.
“If you’re changing the distribution and wanting more money, I think you’ve got to be careful what you’re doing there. We all know where the value is created, let’s not kid ourselves.
“I think we should put more money down, I totally agree with the sentiment, but the value is created at the top. So if you start changing that, and making it more difficult for the bigger clubs to perform, it’s hard.”
