Europa League to be boosted by larger slice of central prize fund
LEADING clubs have backed plans to cut Champions League prize money and give more cash to those in the Europa League in an attempt to address fears of a widening chasm between football’s haves and have-nots.
Real Madrid, the world’s richest club, banked £45m in central distributions from governing body Uefa for winning the Champions League last season, while Europa League victors Sevilla pocketed a comparatively paltry £11.5m.
Umberto Gandini, the vice-chairman of representative body the European Club Association (ECA) and a director at AC Milan, told yesterday’s Leaders Sport Business Summit in London that the gap would be bridged.
“It’s very clear that [there are] differences between Champions League and Europa League, and the reason they are becoming bigger is there,” he said. “We have to find a better way to reduce that.”
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who also chairs the ECA, added: “We have to find the right balance between competition and solidarity.”