The Europa League winners will get a place in the following season’s Champions League from the 2015-16 season, a UEFA source told Reuters yesterday.
The change will boost the prestige of UEFA’s secondary competition which has become largely over-shadowed by the Champions League in terms of prize money, credibility and media coverage over the last decade.
The decision, approved at this week’s executive committee meeting in London, will be announced at UEFA’s annual Congress today.
The decision followed months of discussions between Europe’s top clubs in the European Club Association (ECA) and UEFA’s top officials including president Michel Platini.
Despite the presence of many of Europe’s leading clubs who have missed out on the Champions League, the Europa League retains an aura of being a consolation prize for the also-rans.
Although a central marketing concept was added to the competition when it was rebranded in 2009, matches are played on Thursdays and are often shown on non-peak viewing channels.
They also generate a tiny percentage of income the Champions League can bring.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino refused to comment on the planned change when he gave a news conference yesterday, but said an announcement would be made at today’s Congress.
“Discussions have taken place about the Europa League and some changes are needed for that competition,” he said.
The Europa League, which succeeded the UEFA Cup in 2009-10 but retains the same trophy, features many of Europe’s leading clubs who have missed out on a Champions League place.
There is already a connection between the two competitions as the eight clubs who finish third in their Champions League groups transfer into the Europa League’s knockout rounds.
This season they included last year’s Champions League winners Chelsea.
Despite the initial reticence of some of Chelsea’s players about competing in it, the Premier League won the competition last week by beating Benfica 2-1 in a highly competitive final in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, Berlin will stage the Champions League final for the first time in 2015 and Warsaw will be the venue for the Europa League final, UEFA said yesterday.
“Two beautiful venues for our finals for 2015,” Infantino told a news conference.
The timing could not have been better as far as Germany is concerned with an all-German Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund set for Wembley tomorrow.
The 2015 match, at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, will be the first European final in the German capital which hosted the Olympic Games in 1936 and the 2006 World Cup final.
“I had expressed our wish during the 2012 final in Munich to Michel Platini that we would like to pretty soon host again such a global event,” German Football Federation (DFB) President Wolfgang Niersbach said in a statement.
“It is a recognition of our abilities as organisers and hosts that this will now happen so soon. I thank UEFA for the trust and promise a superb football celebration in Berlin.”
Two German cities have previously been used as the venues for the Champions League final with Munich hosting it three times in 1993, 1997 and 2012 and Gelsenkirchen staging the 2004 final.
Dortmund and Hamburg have hosted the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, final since it was switched to a single-match final in 1998.
Poland, which co-hosted Euro 2012 with Ukraine, has never staged a major European final, but Warsaw’s refurbished National Stadium staged the opening match of last year’s European Championship between Poland and Greece.
It also hosted the semi-final in which Italy beat Germany 2-1.