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MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Liverpool and Manchester United back a plan to radically change the structure of the Premier League, giving more power to the big clubs, reducing it to 18 teams and eliminating the League Cup, the Telegraph reported on Sunday.
The plan would see the Premier League commit to providing 25% of the league’s revenue to Football League (EFL) clubs and also a £ 250 million ($ 326.15 million) package to help with the immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
The newspaper said the plans had been brought together in a document called “Revitalization” drawn up by Liverpool’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group, with support from Florida-based United owners, the Glazer family.
A source with knowledge of the discussions and the document confirmed to Reuters that the report was accurate. The Premier League, Manchester United and Liverpool did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposal is that 8.5% of the league’s annual net income goes to “good causes”, including the Football Association.
25% of the remaining revenue from the Premier League and Football League would go to EFL clubs. This would replace the current system of ‘parachute payments’ to relegated Premier League clubs.
However, the plan does not require the first six to receive a larger share of television revenue.
The plan has the public endorsement of EFL President Rick Parry, former Liverpool chief executive, who has expressed concern about the state of the EFL club’s finances.
“What do we do? Leave it exactly as it is and allow the smaller clubs to wither away? Or do we do something about it? And you can’t do something about it without something changing. And the view of our clubs is if the (the big) six get some profit, but the 72 do too, we’re ready for it, “he told The Telegraph.
The proposal is sure to spark a lively debate within the Premier League, with the switch to the ‘one club, one vote’ system in place since the league was formed, as a breakup of the Football League in 1992.
The plan calls for the nine clubs with the largest continuous presence in the league, which includes the ‘big six’, to be given “long-term shareholder” status and the ability to make changes with the support of just six of the nine. .
In addition to reducing the size from 20 clubs to 18, there would also be a change in the promotion and relegation exchange with the second tier Championship.
The last two clubs would be automatically relegated from the Premier League and replaced by the top two from the Championship.
The club ranked 16th in the Premier League would have to play a tiebreaker with the third, fourth and fifth teams in the championship.
The plan would need the support of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs to pass.
($ 1 = 0.7665 pounds)
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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