In a move that has baffled many people, UEFA are changing how they distribute the TV money from the Champions League with larger chunks going to the clubs who have actually won it or the European Cup.

This would see sides like Liverpool receive more than Arsenal, who qualify for the tournament every season. It also rewards the uber clubs and restricts the smaller ones even further.

Seems fair, right? I’m not overly sure why they just don’t create a league for Real Madrid, Barca, and Bayern Munich on their own and let the rest of us take part in a competition that is fairer in its wealth distribution and not weighted based on previous performances, you know, like most cup competitions the world over. Call it the Champions League Winners League or something.

Anyway…

From 2018 Liverpool and United, presuming they get back into the competition of course, would receive a larger slice of revenue from TV earnings than Arsenal and Manchester City (we expect Spurs to vanish again for a few years after their jolly this season).

In an article on the Times website, their chief sports correspondent, Martyn Ziegler, states, “Those behind the changes argue that the Champions League brand has been built by the biggest clubs in the game so they deserve the biggest rewards.

“The changes — which have been agreed in principle although the exact details of how the money would be shared out are still to be finalised — are being fiercely opposed, however, by the European Professional Football Leagues, which is threatening to rip up the agreement that domestic games are not played in the same time slots as Champions League or Europa League matches.”

You will, perhaps, not be surprised to hear that this change, which benefits the likes of United at the expense of clubs like Arsenal and City is being orchestrated by a committee that includes United’s former chief executive (and current director), David Gill who is also chairman of UEFA’s club competitions committee as well as vice-chairman of the FA.

A points system will likely be deployed with 15 going to a club if they have won the competition in the last five years, 10 if they’ve won it since 1992 and five for each European Cup that came before the format changed to the Champions League.

Points would also be given for Europa League and UEFA Cup trophies, all of which would go towards the club’s coefficient, which also affect seeding giving previous winners a double bump regardless of how they’ve performed lately.

If UEFA are so obsessed with rewarding the ‘big’ clubs who they see as integral to the success of the competition, perhaps they ought to also consider deducting points from those ‘big’ sides who disrespect it by failing to qualify for it in the first place.

Just a suggestion.