European football governing body UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has threatened to ban players from international competition after plans for a breakaway Super League competing with the Champions League resulted in a furious row in European football.
Ceferin has reacted angrily on Monday to Super League plans unveiled by a dozen top teams just hours before a UEFA meeting confirmed its own Champions League would expand from 32 to 36 teams from 2024 onwards and include 100 more games.
The reform creates more group matches as teams are to be placed in one group and, according to a ‘Swiss model’, play 10 games against opponents based on seeding before the knockout stages, up from six in the past.
Earlier Monday, 12 top clubs from England, Spain and Italy, including the likes of Liverpool, Barcelona and Juventus, announced their intention to form a breakaway Super League consisting of 20 teams.
The announcement sent shockwaves around the world and drew wide-ranging condemnation from politicians, federations and fans.
Ceferin said players participating in such a league would be banned from national teams and tournaments including the World Cup, and possibly even this summer’s Euro 2020.
“We’re still assessing the situation with our legal team. It’s a bit too early. We will take all the sanctions that we can,” he said.
Ceferin said defiantly that the Champions League would also have enough good clubs without the breakaway sides.
According to Sky Sports UK, a board member from one of the six English clubs said they are unfazed in what is ‘not a civil war but a nuclear war’ in football.