Sources: Big update on chiefs pocketing Liverpool cash – £298m demand revealed
There is no optimism within industry circles that Uefa will take money out of the pockets of teams like Liverpool in order to increase solidarity payments, Football Insider has learned.
That is despite recent calls from the European Leagues organisation for Uefa to increase the cash that it distributes to clubs not participating in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.
While the exact amount varies from year to year, it is understood that around four per cent of Uefa’s club competition revenue will be distributed to non-participating clubs by the end of the 2022-23 season, equating to around £119m.
For context, Liverpool alone earned £106.2m from Uefa during their run to the Champions League final in 2021-22.
The solidarity payment pot by contrast is split between over 650 clubs after it is distributed to national associations.
The European Leagues – the body that represents 40 leagues, including the Premier League and EFL, on governance matters – is now lobbying for a 10 per cent share of eligible revenues.
Based on this season’s figures, that setup would see £297.5m go to non-participating clubs around Europe annually.
But industry sources have told this site that, even with Uefa revenues set to grow following the introduction of an expanded Champions League from 2024-25, there is little hope that the increase can be achieved.
The European Leagues has no constitutional mechanism through which to bring about the change and is effectively relying on its lobbying power and goodwill from Uefa.
Sources have told this site that relations between the two bodies have grown stronger since they faced down the mutual threat posed by the breakaway Super League plot in April 2021.
But that alone will not be enough to get European football’s governing body to reallocate a significant proportion of its wealth away from its key stakeholders, namely elite clubs like Liverpool.
In other news, Liverpool move for five new signings in big spending spree.