🇪🇺 Uefa considering Super Cup with 4 teams outside Europe, says report | OneFootball

The UEFA Super Cup could be transformed into a tournament with four teams, according to the Telegraph.

The change opens up the possibility of the game that traditionally kicks off the European calendar being played outside of Europe, with the United States or the Middle East emerging as likely destinations.

Currently, the match is contested between the champions of the Champions League and the Europa League.

Who would play in the 'new' Super Cup?

The idea would involve four clubs, with two semi-finals and a final. No further details were given about the qualification criteria, besides the two already existing, as winning the Europa League guarantees a place in the Champions League

This year, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur face off this Wednesday, at 4:00 pm.

The 2025 edition takes place in Udine, at the Friuli, Udinese's stadium – Zico's former team in Italy –, currently named Bluenergy Stadium, with a capacity for only 25,000 spectators.

According to European press reports, Udinese's stadium was the only one to submit a bid to host the game, which will be held for the first time in Italy.

Udine sought the event after being left out of the list of ten Italian cities initially proposed – a number that will be reduced to five – to host the 2032 Euro together with Turkey.

Despite having a modern arena, the city is small, without an airport, with little hotel offer and without structured public transportation – only special buses on match day – to get to the stadium.

UEFA only confirmed Udine as the host in last December, after checking which cities would apply, but there were no other interested parties.

The entity that governs European football had already considered reforming the Super Cup. In a 2022 document for the sale of TV rights for the 2024-2027 cycle, an “opening tournament” of the Champions League was mentioned.

The idea would involve four clubs, with two semi-finals and a final. No further details were given about the qualification criteria, besides the two already existing, as winning the Europa League guarantees a place in the Champions League.

According to the Telegraph, the project was quietly abandoned, but may return to the table in the new round of broadcast rights negotiations, conducted by UEFA and Relevent, a recently hired American company to sell media rights.

According to the English newspaper, the expectation is that European broadcasters will not significantly increase their offers, but that Relevent will seek to exploit the growth of the market in the US, where there is great interest in official club matches played outside Europe.

Games outside Europe

This week, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) presented plans to hold a La Liga match between Barcelona and Villarreal at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on December 21.

The proposal was approved internally and now the RFEF will seek authorization from UEFA and FIFA, although there is opposition from fan groups and Real Madrid.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has already stated that the possibility of Champions League games outside Europe, especially in the United States, is being discussed and is “possible”.

Since 2020, the Spanish Super Cup, which was expanded to four teams, is played in Saudi Arabia, with a contract signed until 2029.

The French Ligue 1 has been taking its “Super Cup” abroad since 2009, with editions in Canada, Morocco, China and, most recently, in Qatar.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 SERGEI GAPON - AFP or licensors