Premier League chiefs will NOT arrange play-offs for Champions League and Europa spaces despite Uefa calls

PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs will defy Uefa calls to bring in a play-off system to determine Euro slots.

Uefa’s executive committee yesterday urged all national leagues to consider play-offs if there is no way of completing the full calendar by the first weekend in August.

EPA

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Europe’s governing body wants all leagues, especially the “Big Five” of the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, to be completed if possible.

If not, Uefa said: “It would be preferable that suspended domestic competitions would restart with a different format in a manner which would still facilitate clubs to qualify on sporting merit.”

That means pressure to introduce a play-off system if the coronavirus restrictions stop the season being played to a finish.

But Prem bosses, who are desperate to complete the season, believe it would be unfeasible to deliver a fair play-off format.

If the campaign cannot restart, Uefa recommends taking the current table and calculating final positions using a points-per-game method.

That is the preferred approach of league chiefs, even if it means a conflict with Uefa’s current stance.

One leading source said: “I can’t see how the League could bring in a play-off system at this stage.

“We either play the season out as scheduled or we don’t finish.”

But it would not necessarily mean Liverpool being declared champions or any relegation issues being settled.

That still needs a vote by 14 of the Prem’s 20 clubs to change the current regulations, which require all 38 games to be played.

Points per game would lead to possible legal challenges with Sheffield United overtaking Wolves to go sixth and Arsenal leapfrogging North London rivals Spurs because they have a game in hand.

Up to 12 teams, down to Everton in the current standings, would be able to argue they should be involved while completed fixtures add to the problems.

For example, eighth-placed Spurs have played Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea twice — while Arsenal’s missed match is scheduled for the Etihad and the Gunners have played Liverpool only once.

SunSport reported how some national associations urged Europe’s governing body to apply Uefa coefficient rankings in a move which would have handed Arsenal, currently ninth in the Prem, a spot in the Champions League.

But the executive committee, with English football represented by FA chairman Greg Clarke and former Manchester United chief executive David Gill, dismissed that idea.

Instead Uefa urged “national associations and leagues to explore all possible options to play all top domestic competitions giving access to Uefa club competitions to their natural conclusion”.

But Euro chiefs recognised that national government coronavirus rulings and the economic chaos caused by Covid-19 could mean a number of leagues cannot finish as planned.

That was why the two other alternatives were floated. If points per game was used, the top five would stay the same, with Leicester earning a second Champions League run.

With Manchester City facing a two-year European ban for alleged Financial Fair Play breaches, rivals United would take fourth.

Sheffield United would then be handed a direct place in the Europa League group phase, along with Wolves, and Arsenal taking the final spot and having to qualify.

Uefa — which confirmed Euro 2020 will retain that title despite being shunted back 12 months — has moved the end-of-domestic-season deadline back to the start of August, giving an extra weekend.

If major leagues can restart in June or July, the remaining European games will be played at the same time but if not then they would restart on August 7, with the Champions League final taking place in Istanbul on August 29.