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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NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Weathers was steamed when he found out he was joining the New York Yankees.
“I had had just finished up my bullpen and I get back to the house — I have like a little travel sauna,” he recalled Thursday. “I literally probably had sat on my couch for about two seconds and I got a phone call from Peter Bendix that I had been traded.”
Bendix, Miami's president of baseball operations, sent the 26-year-old left-hander to New York for four prospects on Tuesday: outfielders Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis, and infielders Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.
Weathers is the son of David Weathers, a pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1996 World Series after he was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline.
“We’ve kind of had a weird, similar paths as to how we got to New York,” Ryan Weathers said.
When Ryan makes his Yankees debut, they will become the fifth father-son duo for the pinstripes, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Clay and Cody Bellinger, Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., and Ron Davis and Ike Davis.
Ryan said he was in shock when he spoke with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.
“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for," he said.
New York’s rotation at the season's start projects to also include Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón rehab from injuries.
Weathers, 26, was 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last year in his second straight injury-shortened season. He missed time with a strained left flexor, made his season debut on May 14, then didn’t pitch for Miami between June 7 and Sept. 11 because of a left lat strain.
He was 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 16 starts in 2024, when he was sidelined by a strained left index finger.
“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year-and-a-half,” Weathers said. “I really did a dive and worked with company on figuring out how to lengthen my lat out, lengthen my back out. We really adjusted a lot of my lifting patterns. We really adjusted my mobility and my prep work, and I think my arm is reaping the benefits right now.”
Ryan grew up in big league clubhouses and remembered the Cincinnati Reds' room with Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto. He played pickle with Dusty Baker, Ramón Hernández, Eric Milton and Juan Castro.
“There’s been a lot of hours put in the Cincinnati Reds' batting cages,” Weathers said. “I just remember Pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he’d still throw me BP.”
Ryan was the seventh overall pick by San Diego in the 2008 amateur draft. His dad's knowledge helped him during tough times.
“When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out: This is what you do with your new team. This was what you do in your day-to-day,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been doing mechanics since I was age 10.”
He has remained close with pitcher Aaron Harang, a teammate of his father who last played in 2015.
“He still texts me all the time,” Weathers said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really care about pitching. I just wanted to hit bombs in the outfield, so I didn’t really think about it.”
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FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sept. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)
