Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu "confirmed that leading European clubs want to re-organise the Champions League -- but does not like the suggestion that there should be automatic entry for historic clubs," according to Rob Draper of the London DAILY MAIL. AC Milan and Inter "are understood to be behind a suggestion that reforms to the Champions League should allow clubs with European pedigree to be given an automatic entry to the tournament."
Bartomeu said, "I'm hearing this idea a lot of times in recent years and in these days there are these sounds again. The Champions League for me is the best competition in the world. Maybe for some Premier League owners it’s not the Champions League, it’s the Premier League."
Asked whether he agreed with the basic principle that clubs must qualify for the Champions League, Bartomeu said, "I like it. In the end, the romance and the way that La Liga is played, with four teams going to the Champions League, it’s good for La Liga as the teams are fighting."
Bartomeu "has also defended the club’s controversial sponsorship deal with Qatar," which the club is "attempting to renegotiate at present." Yet Bartomeu said that "despite the fact that Qatar has been frequently criticised by human rights groups such as Amnesty for abuses of migrant workers, who have minimal rights, it was still right to complete the sponsorship deal."
Bartomeu: "We are negotiating with Qatar now. ... In recent years there have been a lot of politics. But we as a club we cannot enter politics. Some owners think one way and other owners think another way and that is why we cannot take part. What I have to say we are very happy with this sponsorship because it helped very much our club" (DAILY MAIL, 2/20).
