UEFA made a “big mistake” by offering significant more prize money to teams competing in the Champions League than those in the Europa League, according to Turkish football club Fernerbahce President Ali Koc. He said, "I think UEFA is making a big mistake by putting such a big difference between Champions League rewards and Europa League. It’s going to get to a stage when it’s not exciting to watch the Champions League until the quarterfinals. To get a club like Fernerbahce with a €150M ($173.6M) economy a year to close the gap -- no matter how we manage the brand, the club, have success locally -- it’s going to be very hard to catch because the broadcasting rights aren’t there."
Koc was speaking on a panel, called "Team Ownership: Growing Your Club at Home and Abroad," on Thursday at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London. There is a disparity between the two European club competitions in terms of prize money. The winner of the Champions League walks away with a maximum of €57.2M ($66M), compared to the Europa League champion's prize of €15.71M ($18.9M). A group stage win in the Europa League will give a team €360,000 ($417,000), while a draw will get €120,000 ($138,600) and taking part gets a club €2.6M ($3M). Winning a group game in the Champions League is worth a €1.5M ($1.74M) bonus and a draw earns a club €500,000 ($578,000), while just competing in the group stage earns €12.7M ($14.7M).
Also on the panel was Alejandro Irarragorri, the Mexican businessman who has a majority share in Liga MX side Santos Laguna. Irarragorri reiterated a call for the formation of a North American league, comprising clubs from the U.S., Canada and Europe. He said, "That would put us in place to compete with Europe. That is a game changer for us." The three nations are hoping to forge ties after the success of their bid for the 2026 World Cup. The three countries will host the event after beating Morocco with their joint bid earlier in the year. It will be the first time the World Cup splits hosting duties across three nations.
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
