The latest Champions League reform plan is faring better than a failed club-driven proposal two years ago, though Europe’s top leagues said they have concerns after discussing it on Friday.
UEFA-led talks on approving changes for the 2024-25 season are steering away from a traditional group stage toward a single league table that gives all 36 teams 10 games each in a variation of the ‘Swiss System’ format created in chess tournaments.
That format promises to raise club prize money by giving UEFA 180 group-stage games to sell to broadcasters instead of the current 96.
Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette, top, duels for the ball with Manchester United's Harry Maguire during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates stadium in London, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. (Andy RainPool via AP)
It also needs to find four extra midweek slots in an already busy program for domestic leagues.
“The European Leagues have raised strong concerns about more matchdays of such a flexible system in an already very congested calendar,” the 30-nation group said after an online meeting.
Entry to the Champions League from domestic success is also key for the leagues, who want title winners in mid-ranking countries to get their chance on the biggest stage.
Tottenham's manager Jose Mourinho reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. (Clive RosePool via AP)
The UEFA proposal also suggests some of the extra four entries when the current 32-team format is expanded could go to teams based on their historic record in European competitions.
Rewarding teams based on their UEFA ranking would be a safety net for storied members of the influential European Club Association who do not qualify on merit.
European Leagues said its members “also questioned the possible impact of access (to UEFA competitions) as well as commercial components on the sporting and financial balance of domestic leagues.”
The leagues want more UEFA prize money — this season is worth almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to the 32 Champions League teams — directed toward closing the wealth gap between clubs in European soccer.
Still, there is a more solid base for progress than the previous negotiations which collapsed 18 months ago.
“The vision based on the so-called ‘Swiss Model’ is an improvement compared to the more radical proposals that emerged in 2019,” the leagues said.
UEFA will brief its 55 member federations on Tuesday on the competitions proposal, which also affects the Europa League and the third-tier Europa Conference League that starts next season.
Agreement on the 2024-25 proposals are likely before UEFA's annual congress of members on April 20, to be held in Montreux, Switzerland.
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler nearly found the water on the 12th hole with his tee shot on the 14th. On the next hole, he was closer to the 11th green than the 15th fairway. One led to a bogey, the other a long birdie putt, and it added to a 72 on Thursday in The Players Championship.
It was the fourth time in his last five tournament Scheffler failed to break par in the opening round. And his day wasn't done. He spent over an hour on the range during a downpour.
What stood out on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass was missing half of the fairways, some by quite a large margin.
“It’s easier hitting it from the fairway than it is from the rough. I played from the rough a lot today,” Scheffler said. “I hit some good iron shots, which was really nice. ... And I did a pretty good job of managing my way around the course. Just got to be a little sharper.”
Sometimes even hitting the fairway didn't help. He missed his second shot to the right on the par-5 second (his 11th of the day), which isn't the worst place to be except that his ball was in pine straw just beneath the collar of grass. He fluffed that into a bunker, hit a pedestrian bunker shot and made bogey.
Scheffler seemed most irritated about making back-to-back bogeys late in his round, on the par-4 seventh and par-3 eighth. From the right rough, he left himself a 25-yard bunker shot on No. 7, and he was dealt a nasty lie in the rough on the next hole.
Scheffler went back to his old driver after experimenting with a newer one.
“I’ve seen some improvements in the new driver — like my spin is much more consistent,” he said. “But the way I play, I always hit so many different types of shots and the one last week felt like it was going a little left on me, and when I want to hit my peeler a lot of times I would hit it out of the middle of the face it would start drawing on me. So I think that’s a little bit today why the ball started going right way.”
The first round of The Players Championship was interrupted by heavy rain, a band of storms that moved so quickly toward the Atlantic Ocean that officials had players wait in place instead of bringing them in.
Russell Henley was on the green at the par-5 second, close to the clubhouse. Assuming the worst of the weather, he made a run for it. He apparently didn't realize officials weren't calling them in.
“We ran in because I thought it was going to be like a tornado,” Henley said. “It was raining really, really hard. When I went inside I was hitting the lunch table and Ben Griffin said, ‘You have a restart in four minutes.’”
That wound up saving Henley, who made it back out to the course (a short jog) and got his par, resuming his round of 68.
“It was kind of a quick, stressful 10 minutes or whatever it was,” he said. “But made it on time.”
Ludvig Aberg and Adam Scott made it look easy on the par-3 17th with tee shots to the island green that settled within tap-in range for birdie.
That wasn't the case for S.H. Kim and Jhonattan Vegas. They were among 16 players who hit their tee shots into the water — and the only ones to hit their next shots into the water, too.
Both made triple bogey.
Aberg and Scott were among 11 players who managed to make birdie.
For those who enjoy a good wreck, there was plenty of action along the closing holes — 18 balls in the water on the 17th, 13 shots into the water down the left side of the 18th hole and seven more in the water down the right side of the par-5 16th.
Shane Lowry hit his drive into the water on the 18th. His third shot from the tee found the fairway and his approach went into the water. It added to a quadruple-bogey 8 for a 76.
The highest score of the day belonged to Keegan Bradley. He took a 9 on the par-5 11th hole with a tee shot out of play on the right, another shot into the water, another in the bunker. It added quickly, and Bradley wound up with a 77.
Austin Smotherman and Scottie Scheffler share more than just a residence in Dallas. Both are expecting another child toward the end of the month.
This is the third child for Smotherman, but the first time he and his wife chose not to know the gender until birth. The due date is March 23, though he said the first two children were late.
“I left a couple weeks ago to go play the Florida swing, and my job was just to go play golf until I got back to hopefully Houston and could just drive up to Dallas if the baby came then,” Smotherman said. “My wife’s giving me the OK to play this week, just keep rolling no matter if I was shooting 5 under or 5 over.”
He said the plan was to play next week and then reassess.
Five players failed to break 80 in the opening round, with Davis Riley and Emiliano Grillo each posting 84. ... David Ford got into the field when Ryan Fox withdrew. He birdied his first hole and then had five bogeys over his next nine holes. He shot 75. ... Danish twins Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard celebrated their 25th birthday on Thursday. Nicolai shot 71, while Rasmus had a 75.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
S.H. Kim of South Korea reacts to his shot on the 17th hole during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Ponte Bedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Austin Smotherman reacts to his shot on the seventh green during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Ponte Bedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Russell Henley reacts after his birdie putt on the 11th green during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Ponte Bedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Ponte Bedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
