UEFA have confirmed that winners of the Europa League from 2014-15 will gain automatic entry into the following year’s Champions League.
The secondary knockout competition has gained much criticism since its re-branding from the UEFA Cup, for the number of fixtures played and the low prize money paid out to teams that progress to the latter stages.
UEFA’s congress have met this week in London ahead of the Champions League Final at Wembley to vote on a number of topics, including improving incentives for teams to remain competitive in the Europa League.
The European governing body have today confirmed, after months of talks with the European Club Association, that they have approved introducing from the 2014-15 edition of the competition that the tournament winners will gain entry into the following year’s Champions League.
The ruling could see a maximum of five clubs from a single country compete in single Champions League campaigns.
This week has also seen UEFA confirm Berlin’s Olympic Stadium as the host for the 2015 Champions League Final and Warsaw’s National Stadium as the host for the 2015 Europa League Final.
