UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has reacted angrily to reports that Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez has held talks with Gianni Infantino over his idea to form a new competition for elite clubs.
The New York Times reported that Perez's idea is to scrap the Champions League and bring in a new 'super-league' formed of 20 of Europe's elite clubs made up mainly from the English, Spanish, Italian, French and German top divisions.
Perez believes the competition would allow the biggest clubs in Europe to play each other on a more regular basis and in doing so help double their yearly revenue.
The idea has been slated, however, by Ceferin, who has accused Perez of being 'selfish' in a strongly worded statement .
Ceferin said: "I have read about this insane plan. If reports are to be believed, it comes from a single club President (not the owner) and a lone football administrator. It would be hard to think of a more selfish and egotistical scheme.
"It would clearly ruin football around the world; for the players, for the fans and for everyone connected with the game- all for the benefits of a tiny number of people."
Ceferin does not think the plans will be able to go ahead, and predicts there would be a huge backlash if they ever came to fruition.
He added: "Luckily, there is still too much common sense in the game for this kind of crazy notion to succeed. In fact, it is so far-fetched, I cannot actually believe anyone has dreamed it up."
The Champions League first came into effect as a new version of the European Cup in the 1992-1993 season, but there has been speculation for some time that it could be reformed.
From 2024 it will have 32 teams in four groups of eight, a change to the current format where there are eight groups of four teams.
