Liverpool FC Forum

[JBG]

Uefa admit Reds mistake
by Paul Higham -  created on 10 Jun 2005

LiverpoolUefa president Lennart Johansson has admitted that they made a mistake in not allowing the UEFA Champions League holders the right to defend the trophy.

Europe's governing body were thrust into the spotlight by Liverpool's amazing victory over Milan in Istanbul, as they had not qualified for next year's competition through the league.

The whole of football knew it would be a nonsense if the actual champions were not involved in the Champions League, so Uefa had to find a way to include The Reds.

Uefa included Liverpool in the first qualifying round on Friday, but Johansson has admitted that they should have never have had to make a special decision.

Although Real Madrid finished fifth when they won the competition, Johansson said that Uefa had failed to plan for the same situation happening again.

"We, as most people, do certain mistakes," Johansson told Radio Five Live. "This is a mistake.

"When we formulated the new regulations we did not think of the possibility that somebody outside the four best in one of the big countries could still win the Champions League.

"Now we have tried to correct it for the future and take a decision which may be criticised but I think will be appreciated in most places.

"If you make an error or mistake you have to try your best not to repeat it in the future and take a decision that could be accepted by the absolute majority."

From next season the holders will gain an automatic place in the competition, at the expense of the side in the final domestic qualification spot.

Johansson defended Uefa's decision to put the holders in at the very first qualifying stage when normally the holders are allocated a place in the group stages.

"We thought in a situation like this we should not make too many changes. We had to find a possibility to let them in without hurting somebody else."