November 30, 2007: UEFA Approves Changes to Champions League and Other Competitions

UEFA approves several changes to the Champions League and other competitions it runs.
The final of the Champions League will take place on a Saturday, instead of a Wednesday, from 2010. UEFA justifies the change by saying more children will be able to see the game. “I also hope that playing the UEFA Champions League final on a Saturday will give families, especially children, the chance to see the game,” says UEFA president Michel Platini. [BBC, 11/30/2007] The change of game day also means that the match, which is played in the late evening in Europe, is at a much more attractive time for the US market—2:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday. This means that the game will become one of only a few such club football games ever shown live on US network television. [FoxSoccer, 5/17/2010] The cheapest child ticket for the 2011 Champions League final will be £113, will have to be purchased together with an adult ticket costing £225, and will be subject to a £26 “administration fee” (see February 17, 2011).
Qualification for the Champions League is altered, making it harder for a fourth team from the three leading countries to qualify, to the benefit of smaller countries.
The group stage in UEFA’s second most important club competition, the UEFA Cup, is altered, and there will now be 12 groups of four teams before the knockout stages.
UEFA’s third-string competition, the Intertoto Cup, is abolished. [BBC, 11/30/2007]