Superliga minds, Champions League outside Europe doesn’t? PSG President Al-Khelaifi wants to move the LM matches

When 12 European clubs came up with the idea of a Super League that would increase profits for the clubs, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi strongly disagreed. Now, however, he is trying something similar, in fact, he is trying to move Champions League matches out of Europe.

The Athletic reports that representatives of some of the big clubs in Europe are behind the move to move some Champions League matches out of Europe.

They say it is a way to significantly increase revenue from the competition, which is already huge, but clubs are looking for ways to make even more.

One of the main figures pushing the idea is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of PSG, president of the ECA and a member of UEFA’s executive committee.

The Qatari businessman recommended the US, China or the Middle East as suitable destinations. Indeed, ECA research shows that as many as 34% of fans from China and 28% from the US became interested in football thanks to the Champions League. So the idea is to bring fans to these countries a little closer to the elite level.

PSG has experience with competitions outside Europe. The Parisian side has played the French Super Cup in Israel for the second year in a row, and Spanish teams have similar experience, having already played the Super Cup twice in the form of a tournament in Saudi Arabia.

And UEFA has the same idea. It is already working on a tournament to kick off the summer season that would be held outside Europe.

According to UEFA sources, since the coronavirus pandemic, any solution that would bring in more revenue needs to be analysed, as many clubs have been hit quite badly financially by the pandemic.

Source: The Athletic