Europe's top clubs have revived plans for a 'Superleague' to pull soccer out of economic doldrums, Italy's top sports daily said Tuesday.
Europe In Superleague Rethink Against Crisis headlined Gazzetta dello Sport over a story stressing that, for the first time, tradition-loving UEFA President Michel Platini might be willing to consider the oft-mooted plan.
''I understand the fears of the clubs,'' Platini was quoted as saying.
The Superleague would be composed of 20-22 teams in three divisions with promotion and relegation between each, the newspaper reported.
Four teams from Italy, from England, four from Spain, three from France and three from Germany would make up the backbone of a league that would be unlike previous more elitist formats, Gazzetta said.
Reacting to the report, ex-Italy and AC Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi said he was in favour of the plan, arguing that Italian soccer's recent difficulties in the Champions League stemmed from lower spending power compared to their Premier League rivals.
''I'm in favour, also because we saw how hard Italian teams were hit by being knocked out of the Champions League,'' Sacchi told Radio Kiss KIss.
Sacchi said the Superleague had originally been proposed ''20 years ago'' by Milan owner and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and had come to the fore again because of ''the economic necessities of the times we are going through''.
The coach, who led Milan to several European Cup/Champions League wins and coached Italy to the 1994 World Cup Final, said he was one of the traditionalists who would like to see the old European Cup back, but ''the bottom line is that economic factors will decide one way or another''.
The new plans were also reported Tuesday by France Football, the influential bi-monthly that each year awards the Ballon d'Or.
It too said the proposed league would be aimed both at generating much-needed income and at overcoming strong reservations from the traditionalist UEFA President.
The European Club Association (ECA) representing 137 top clubs discussed the project at Nyon, Switzerland last week, France Football said.
Gazzetta dello Sport said the plan had some supporters from inside UEFA too.
According to the two publications, there are plans to get the Superleague running by 2012 in place of the current Champions League and UEFA Cup.
As well as currently successful clubs, there would be invitations to historical winners, France Football reported, saying that organisers wanted to defuse fears of an inaccessible ''power elite''.
The teams with the best recent Champions League record would go into the first division, those with middling records into the second division and the cream of the UEFA Cup crop into the third, it said.
Some of Europe's top teams have already bought into the project, France Football said, listing Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Porto and Lyon.
German giant Bayern Munich is reportedly split because of the opposition of club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is also head of the ECA.
PLATINI OPPOSITION BIGGEST HURDLE.
The biggest hurdle to the creation of the Superleague is the longstanding opposition of Platini who has repeatedly stated he would like to turn the clock back to an all-knock-out Champions League involving only domestic champions, like the old European Cup.
But France Football quoted the France legend as saying that UEFA, which must give its blessing to any new competition, ''will listen to everyone, it is a democratic organisation''.
''Everyone knows my philosophy about European competitions...but the world is changing and we have to pay attention to that''.
''If it was up to me I'd return to the origins of the European Cups. But you have to hear everyone out and analyse what they will propose to us''.
According to France Football, the Superleague would have ten times the earning power of the current Champions League.
Gazzetta dello Sport quoted FIFA chief Sepp Blatter as saying that with all signs of the economic crisis deepening, ''a tsunami is about to hit soccer''.
