Liverpool and Manchester United have formally declared their
opposition to plans for domestic cup winners to qualify for the
Uefa Champions League.
Uefa president Michel Platini has proposed that sides who win their
respective home cup competitions will qualify for the group stages
of Europe's top competition.
However, Liverpool and United were the most outspoken opponents to
the proposals among the 102 members of the European club forum who
met in Switzerland on Tuesday.
Platini also plans to secure more places in the group stages of the
competition for champions of the smaller leagues in Europe.
This proposal was met with general acceptance, but opinion was
divided over the Frenchman's plans for cup winners.
Uefa communications director William Gaillard said: "The most
opposed to those proposals were Liverpool and Manchester United -
they do not want to see a change to the format at all.
"Across the top seven countries however opinion was mixed. The
Italians are strongly in favour because they want to revamp their
cup competition.
"The Spanish and the French said it should be up to their Football
Associations to decide, while the Germans were split among
themselves.
"The clubs from the smaller countries were generally in
agreement."
The board of the forum, of which Chelsea chief executive Peter
Kenyon is a member, will now decide whether to present the
objections to Uefa.
A decision on any possible changes will be made at an executive
committee meeting in November.