4 big Champions Leagues?

[psveindhoven]

What do you people think about 4 big Champions Leagues? Just the champions will play Champions League, and each CL has got some wild cards. Just the same as the UEFA CL, but with 64 teams instead of 32. Just first you let the 64 teams play knock-outs, so you have 32 teams over. Then the poules with for teams, like UEFA Champions League, and then knock outs.


African Champions League

Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Congo DR
Côte d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Swaziland
São Tomé e Príncipe
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe

52 champions + 12 wild cards = 64 teams

Asian Champions League

Afghanistan
American Samoa
Australia
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China PR
Chinese Taipei
Cook Islands
Fiji
Guam
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Jordan
Korea DPR
Korea Republic
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Macau
Malaysia
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Qatar
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tahiti
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tonga
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam SR
Yemen

56 champions + 8 wild cards = 64 teams

European Champions League

Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia FYR
Malta
Moldova
Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Scotland
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Wales

52 champions + 12 wild cards = 64 teams

American Champions League

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Surinam
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uruguay
US Virgin Islands
USA
Venezuela

45 champions + 19 wild cards = 64 teams


I think this way football will also develop more in smaller football countries like India, Austria, Malaysia, Congo, Venezuela etc.

[captdf]

WHAT THE HECK?

When would these tournaments occur? Would they replace existing tournaments like the European Championships?

The idea that soccer would develop in countries like Austria by adding an additional tournament to the world's soccer calendar is utterly ludicrous. Austria already has a developed national league, and has developed stars like Andreas Herzog.

Not sure what the point of this post was, and at this point not even sure why I'm responding...

[TimB4Last]

WHAT THE HECK?

Not sure what the point of this post was, and at this point not even sure why I'm responding...

It's the same old thing: stimulus - response. (Almost) never fails.

Just because this idea has no shot at all - too many vested interests in the existing order, for one thing; too expensive; too complicated and time-intensive - doesn't mean it isn't fun to think (and talk) about.

Europe seems to have a good handle on the CL & UEFA Cup, and with limited 'open' dates available, I'm not sure expansion would 'work.' I'll let someone else work out the details in Africa - where it might work, and Asia - where I can't imagine it working.

[Who can tell me something about soccer in India?]

I think the 'best shot' is here in the Western Hemisphere. As a base, you have the Copa Libertadores, originally among South American champions. I can't remember when, but at some point the Mexicans talked their way in. There's a CONCACAF version of some kind, but that's a poor relation to the 'real thing.' I know South America also has a 'lesser' club championship.

I think North/Central American teams, the US at least, could 'buy' their way in. That is, if they could present their entry as attractive financially, the other federations would be receptive. Elite South American teams would be happy to pound our teams for a while, and the occasional upset would keep things interesting. We would improve over time and make things more interesting still.

Economics might exclude some of the region's smaller countries/clubs, but you could count to 64 'decent' teams pretty easily.

[On the MNT level, I don't know why we don't compete in the Copa America every two years. Are we just waiting by the phone for another invite? It would be great experience for us and (again) fun for the Latino countries to show us how the game should be played. We would be very competitive immediately, so I see a real win-win situation.]

ps Thanks for the geography refresher!

[leg_breaker]

The quality would be abysmal. Replace the second and third placed teams in England, Spain and Italy and bring in the champions of Luxembourg and San Marino? It would be a joke.

I agree that conmebol and concacaf should merge.

Btw, there's only one Champions League, the other continents should think of some more original names.

[psveindhoven]

The quality would be abysmal. Replace the second and third placed teams in England, Spain and Italy and bring in the champions of Luxembourg and San Marino? It would be a joke.

I agree that conmebol and concacaf should merge.

Btw, there's only one Champions League, the other continents should think of some more original names.

Well, maybe you're right and am i wrong about that new CL, but it was just an idea of mine. I don't think you will get the champs of San Marino/Andorra instead of Arsenal/Liverpool, because, as i told, you will get 64 teams in a preliminary round to qualify. So the 32 best teams will play, and there are some wild cards, so the nr. 2 of England can still qualify.

[TimB4Last]

Well, maybe you're right and am i wrong about that new CL, but it was just an idea of mine. I don't think you will get the champs of San Marino/Andorra instead of Arsenal/Liverpool, because, as i told, you will get 64 teams in a preliminary round to qualify. So the 32 best teams will play, and there are some wild cards, so the nr. 2 of England can still qualify.

I don't think many people in Europe think the CL is 'broken,' hence there's no incentive to (ask you to) 'fix' it.

[Who can tell me what's happened to the 'super league' idea of a few years ago?]

In the Western Hemisphere, there's plenty of incentive to go around. Incentive = dollars, of course, the only incentive people seem to respond to these days.