Premier League clubs in Europe will benefit from a qualification system in next season’s Carabao Cup, giving them a potentially easier path in a move designed to reduce match congestion.
Several CEOs of English Football League (EFL) teams have said as much sport mail how they were not consulted about this and have criticized the decision as another measure to protect the “big clubs”, just months after FA Cup replays were cancelled.
It also follows Premier League clubs walking away from a proposed £900m-plus deal with their EFL counterparts that would have seen them share more money with teams further down the pyramid, a move that sparked outrage within of the game and throughout Westminster.
Now the Carabao Cup will present Europe’s clubs with a slight advantage due to seeding in its third round – when top-flight teams enter the competition – which will mean that teams qualified for the Champions League cannot tie with those in the Europa League.
Although some see this as another measure to protect elite teams, EFL sources insist it is purely a logistical change based on the new Champions League format, with the third round of the domestic cup coinciding with a UEFA match day.
Next season’s Carabao Cup competition will see the introduction of a ‘qualification mechanism’
Chief executives of many EFL teams criticized the decision as another measure to protect the “big clubs”.
But it leaves Europa League contenders Manchester United, for example, unable to take on one of this season’s top four (Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa) and gives these bigger clubs a further passage. easy to the last stages.
Lincoln City chief executive Liam Scully tells Mail Sport: ‘We respect and understand that we may have work to do with the competition calendar in due course and possibly even the competition framework; However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the calendar, and then by default the competition format, is a shared asset.
‘I certainly don’t accept any suggestion that we will be forced to do anything. However, in everyone’s interests, we may need to be open to a structured and collaborative dialogue in which all stakeholders are treated equally.’
The changes will be implemented during a two-week third round of the Carabao Cup on September 18 and 25. They are designed to avoid the dilemma of clubs qualifying for Europe having to play in two cup competitions in the same week.
Lincoln City chief executive Liam Scully said all parties interested in the competition must be treated equally
However, Champions League teams can still play against each other, and the same goes for those in the Europa League. It is believed that Chelsea, who will play in the Conference League, will not be affected as the group stage of this competition begins at a later date.
“First time I heard of it,” was the gist of other responses directed at EFL executives, who fumed at the decision as if it were to “further protect the elite”. But one EFL staff member pointed out that this makes them more likely to attract “big clubs”, giving them a positive chance of earning a better income.
