UEFA set to introduce a third competition from 2021

UEFA have confirmed that there are plans in place to bring in a third club competition from the 2021/22 season.

The new competition would exist alongside the Champions League and Europa League and would bring the number of clubs in European football to 96. 

The chairman of the European Club Association, Andrea Agnelli, confirmed these plans.

#ECA Chairman opened his address to members by commending the new FFP regulations, stating:

"These new regulations will be even more effective than the ones we had in place which delivered astonishing results which have just been announced by @UEFA."#ECAGeneralAssembly pic.twitter.com/0UWm1DUq4q

— ECA (@ECAEurope) September 11, 2018

Agnelli, who is also the chairman of Juventus said "These new regulations will be even more effective than the ones we had in place which delivered astonishing results which have just been announced by UEFA.

Pending approval of the UEFA ExCo, the 'green light' has been given to introduce a third competition, bringing the overall number of clubs to 96, as of the 2021/22 season.

A detailed assessment of the existing International Match Calendar is required prior to presenting a new model post-2024. The current model needs modernising.

The suggestion is that Europa League would see a reduction in the number of teams participating and the new competition would be focused primarily on teams from smaller nations. 

Agnelli has been vocal in the past of his desire for big European teams to play more matches against each other with fewer domestic games.