Ibrox View: Big boost for Rangers as ECA chief denounces Super League plans
Head of the European Club Association (ECA) Andrea Agnelli has refused to lend his support for a Super League that would exclude Rangers from elite football.
Plans have long been mooted for a breakaway European Super League that would involve only the elite clubs from the continent’s top leagues.
With Rangers starting to reassert themselves on the European stage after an unbeaten domestic title charge so far alongside an impressive Europa League campaign where they are also yet to taste defeat, the club would have been dismayed at the thought of not being able to compete in the regular Champions League format in the coming years.
However, Juventus president and head of the ECA Agnelli has dismissed the reformation proposals at the ‘Think Sport conference 2021’.
As reported by ESPN, Agnelli said: “Increase the stability and participation, keep access from the domestic level, competitions at the European level should be open to all.”
He added: “It is not just about England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but we must embrace also the lower competitions, guarantee an adequate European representation but at the same time offer stability of participation.”
Gers set for CL charge
After successive Europa League campaigns, Steven Gerrard will be desperate to test himself as a manager in the Champions League with the Gers.
Gerrard achieved so much success in the competition with Liverpool as a player, inspiring a historic comeback against AC Milan in 2005 to lift the trophy as captain before reaching the final again two years later.
It was recently revealed that Scotland would be granted an extra Champions League slot starting from next season with the Premiership winners being granted access to the third and final qualifying round while the runners-up would start a round earlier.
The Light Blues are currently 23 points clear of Old Firm rivals Celtic at the top of the table and look like sure-fire certainties to lift the title and secure safe passage into the third round of Europe’s elite competition.
This would leave the Gers two games away from a lucrative Champions League group campaign which would earn the club a fortune in revenue and allow them to attract higher-profile players to the club as well as retaining their prized assets.
Therefore news that powerful figures in the game are against the move to break-up the existing format should be welcomed by all connected to Rangers.
In other Rangers news, see our exclusive interview with Alex McLeish on the work of the Gers recruitment team.