Premier League clubs in Europe will be helped by a seeding system in next season’s Carabao Cup, giving them a potentially easier path in a measure designed to reduce fixture congestion.
Multiple chief executives at English Football League (EFL) teams have told Mail Sport how they were not consulted on this and have blasted the decision as another move to protect ‘big clubs’, just months after FA Cup replays were scrapped.
It also follows Premier League clubs walking away from a proposed £900million-plus deal with EFL counterparts which would have seen them share more money with teams further down the pyramid – a move which sparked outrage inside the game and across Westminster.
Now the Carabao Cup will present clubs in Europe with a slight advantage due to seedings in its third round – when top-flight teams enter the competition – that will see Champions League-qualified teams unable to draw those in the Europa League.
Though some see this as another move to protect the elite sides, EFL sources insist it is purely a logistical change based on the new-look Champions League format as the third round of the domestic cup clashes with a UEFA matchday.
Next season’s Carabao Cup competition will see the introduction of a ‘seeding mechanism’
CEOs at many EFL teams blasted the decision as another move to protect the ‘big clubs’
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But it does leave Europa League-bound Manchester United, for example, unable to face one of this season’s top four – Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa – and give these bigger clubs an easier passage into the latter stages.
Lincoln City CEO Liam Scully tells Mail Sport: ‘We respect and understand we may have some work to do with the competition calendar in due course and possibly even the competition framework; however, we must not lose sight of the fact that the calendar, and then by default competition format, is a shared asset.
‘I’m certainly not accepting of any suggestion that we will be forced to do anything. However, in the interests of all, we may have to be open to structured, collaborative dialogue where all stakeholders are treated equally.’
The changes will be implemented across a two-week Carabao Cup third round on September 18 and 25. They are designed to avoid the dilemma of Europe-qualified clubs having to play in two cup competitions in the same week.
Lincoln City CEO Liam Scully said all stakeholders in the competition should be treated equally
Champions League teams can, though, still play each other – and likewise for those in the Europa League. It is believed Chelsea, who will play in the Conference League, are not impacted as this competition’s group stage starts at a later date.
‘First I’ve heard of it,’ was the gist of other replies when put to EFL executives, who fumed at the decision as one to ‘further protect the elite’. But one EFL staffer did point out that it makes them more likely to draw ‘big clubs’, giving them a positive chance of better gate receipts.
