UEFA is reportedly planning to invite Al Nassr to participate in the 2024-25 Champions League on the grounds that the Saudi club where Cristiano Ronaldo plays is one of the three most popular clubs in the world. This is the news bouncing back from Arabia and picked up by Britain’s Football Talk. But from UEFA they let it be known that nothing has changed from what its president Aleksander Čeferin said a few weeks ago, “I can say that only European clubs are allowed to participate in the Champions League, Europa League or the Europa League.”

In addition to the (not insignificant) issue of compliance with Financial Fair Play, there is also the fact that from next season the new format of the Champions League will start, with the number of teams increasing from 32 to 36 in a single group on the style of basketball’s Euroleague. For calendar reasons, of course, the teams will not all be able to face each other, but each lineup will face the same number of opponents divided by bracket and drawn. The number of guaranteed games will also increase from 6 to 8, four at home and four away.

In this scenario, the still unanswered question arises, namely who will eventually leave the Al Nassr’s place and according to what criteria the excluded teammates will be chosen. There is also, then, to consider the reaction of the fans to this eventuality, those same fans who said no to the SuperLega and would now see a team imposed merely for economic reasons. But UEFA reiterates: only European clubs.