Domestic cup winners will not get to play in the Champions
League after a proposal from Uefa chief Michel Platini was
rejected.
But the team finishing third in the Premier League will now go
straight into the group stages and the fourth team will face two
qualifying rounds.
There will also be more places for champions of lower ranked
nations if the proposals are ratified next month.
And this will mean a place in the group stage for Scotland's
champions in 2009.
But with fewer spots available for qualifiers the team finishing
fourth in the Premier League will now face a tougher qualification
process.
Platini's most controversial proposal was for domestic cup winners
to play off for the places that currently go to the teams finishing
fourth in the top European leagues, but this idea has been
dropped.
Platini had outlined his plans to Uefa's European Professional
Football Strategy Council, a 16-member group comprising of
officials from Europe's leagues, associations and clubs in Nyon,
Switzerland.
The new changes will be ratified at Uefa's executive committee
meeting in Lucerne on 1 December.
Sports editor Mihir Bose said: "Platini wanted the new club
champions to come in from the less privileged parts of
Europe.
"He has got that part of the plan through - six new clubs will come
in.
"But the other part of the proposal, which involved the cup
winners, has been completely abandoned."
The meeting's other significant outcome was the automatic
qualification of the team finishing third in the top leagues,
including the Premier League.
"The Premier League has won a thumping victory over Platini," added
Bose.
The plan had been opposed by the G14, the body which represents 18
of Europe's leading clubs including Liverpool, Manchester United
and Arsenal, who said any change would devalue the reputation of
the Champions League.
Their view was backed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
"You have to be careful not to change the Champions League too much
by bringing in even more weaker teams because you could find
yourself with games with no meaning," he said.
"That would be very dangerous for the quality of the
competition."
