Football Federation Australia said that "there are no plans to hand over full control of the A-League to the clubs in the near future," but the organization confirmed it is "committed to looking at ways to take the national competition forward." There was "confusion" on Wednesday after a newspaper report suggested the sport’s head body told club owners at a meeting on Tuesday that FFA was "prepared to relinquish control of the national competition as early as next season." However, the indication from sources who attended the meeting is that "there was no hard and fast commitment," no model nor any details put forward by FFA Chair Steven Lowy (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/17).
Arsenal's 5-1 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich "may have a bigger impact" on the club than just European elimination, after "fans flocked to the club’s official ticket exchange to flog their seats for the second leg at the Emirates Stadium." When the match kicked off at the Allianz Arena, "no tickets were available for the second leg on the club’s official ticket exchange website." But "immediately after the full-time whistle, there were tickets aplenty." At least 18 sections "were showing up to have availability inside the 60,000-seat stadium" (London INDEPENDENT, 2/16).
Scottish Premiership side Celtic "joined forces with other European clubs to push for an expanded 48-team Champions League group stage." Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell "teamed up with the top brass" from Eredivisie sides Ajax and PSV Eindhoven as well as Belgian side Anderlecht last week and traveled to Switzerland "for talks with UEFA." The clubs are "concerned about Champions League reforms which will see teams from England, Spain, Germany and Italy get half of the 32 places on offer." It is understood that the four clubs "are speaking on behalf of a larger group from European football's smaller leagues" (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 2/16).
