The new plans would ensure that a club outside its country's top four could only enter the Champions League if they had won the title or reached the semi-finals of the Europa League the previous season


A UEFA plan to limit the amount of clubs able to qualify for the Champions League has been set out in a Football Association report which details the possible end of the Premier League's top four race.

Moves to protect "elite European club revenue streams" are laid out in the FA report, which details the plans that European football's governing body have to expand their continental competitions.

The Premier League has long enjoyed a healthy tussle for the top four places in the division and Champions League qualification.

But such plans - which have long been pushed by juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli - would threaten the competitiveness of the top flight, giving little chance to anyone outside the so-called 'Big Six' of ever sitting at Europe's top table.

The new plans, which would come into force in 2024, state that the 32-team Champions League for the 2024/25 season would be chosen based on UEFA's domestic club rankings from the period between the 2020/21 and 2023/24 seasons - effectively making the tournament a closed shop