UEFA says UCL, UEL qualification will be based on 'sporting merit' if season is cancelled

Premier League giants Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham could miss out on next season's UEFA Champions League after recent reports suggest that teams can only qualify on sporting merit. Currently, all major leagues across Europe are suspended amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and UEFA could be looking at a points-per-game scenario for the unfinished leagues. UEFA had earlier announced a July end cut-off for all associations to end their league campaigns. However, with the coronavirus pandemic situation escalating further, it is unlikely that leagues will be completed before the cut-off. 

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Coronavirus pandemic: UEFA plans points-per-game metric for Champions League qualification if leagues are unfinished

According to a report in The Times, UEFA is planning to use a points-per-game metric to decide league positions for Champions League qualification. The UEFA executive committee meeting was headed by president Alexander Ceferin and held via a video conference on Thursday. Earlier reports suggested that the UEFA could look at a club coefficient to decide next year's Champions League participants, however, that notion was swiftly denied with the current season being termed as the deciding factor for qualification. The use of UEFA coefficient rankings would have seen Manchester United qualify for the Champions League while Leicester would have been demoted to the Europa League. 

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Coronavirus pandemic: How leagues would finish with a points-per-game system

Premier League giants Arsenal and Tottenham would completely miss out on European qualification if a points-per-game system is applied. Man United and Sheffield United will take the Europa League spots, while Wolves will qualify if the FA Cup is not completed. The current top four will qualify in the for the Champions League from the Premier League as is the case with Serie A and Bundesliga. Napoli and Roma will qualify for Europa League while AC Milan will be denied European football.

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