European soccer clubs have been urged to support a Champions League expansion plan and help please global fans who have different supporting habits.
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A UEFA-led proposal to change its clubs competitions in 2024 is being presented to more than 200 European Club Association members.
The plan abolishes traditional four-team groups and adds 100 Champions League games in a 36-team format, rather than 32 teams.
The deal could be finalised within two weeks, European Club Association chairman and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli said in an online meeting on Monday.
"I really ask you that today we endorse this system going forward and mandate the (ECA) board to execute the last details that we will be missing," Agnelli said.
He singed out the unresolved issue of access for clubs to the revamped Champions League.
ECA leaders want two of the four extra Champions League places given to clubs who do not qualify on merit but are ranked highly by UEFA based on past results in Europe.
Critics see that as a safety net for clubs with global brands rather than rewarding champions from mid-ranking leagues such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Scotland.
Agnelli stated his vision for European soccer to appeal to fans worldwide because "traditional assumptions" about fans' loyalties had to change.
One third of fans globally follow at least two clubs and 10 per cent of fans follow players instead of clubs, said the Italian executive whose club signed Cristiano Ronaldo three years ago.
Agnelli cautioned that the so-called "Gen Z" demographic of 16-to-24-year-olds "have no interest in football whatsoever."
"The current system most likely is not delivering for the modern fan," he said, claiming too many domestic and international games "are simply uncompetitive".
The Champions League proposal would ensure 10 games for each of the 36 teams.
Currently, only six group-stage games are guaranteed for 32 teams that share about 2 billion euros ($A3.1 billion) in UEFA prize money.
The new format would create 100 more games and up to 14 new game days to broadcast.
A single league table in the new format would send the top eight into the last-16 round.
Teams ranked from nine to 24 would enter play offs to complete the knockout bracket.
"The beauty of the system has now been recognised by all," Agnelli said.
The European Leagues group has warned the plan would take broadcast revenue and fixture calendar space from its members.
Agnelli repeated his view that 20-team leagues - including in England, Spain, and Italy - will come to be seen as too big.
He also chided ECA board members who brought their domestic concerns into its talks on international matters.
Australian Associated Press
