UEFA address future of Carabao Cup as Arsenal and Tottenham could face huge fixture pile up

UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, has addressed the future of the Carabao Cup, saying that any changes to the competition are up to English authorities.

The expansion of UEFA's club competitions from next season means the calendar will be even more jam-packed. There were hopes that the Carabao Cup may be trimmed down and FA Cup replays scrapped if the Premier League and the EFL could agree on added funding.

Despite this being hoped for, it seems further away than ever after Premier League clubs didn't present an offer at their meeting on Monday. Instead they focused on newly agreed financial rules.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has in the past suggested scrapping the Carabao Cup, but its deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti has now made it clear that any changes to it — including whether the winners get a spot in European competition — is something England's bodies will have to decide.

«We organise our own competitions and we try to be extremely respectful of what the leagues and associations decide in their own territory,» he said.

«They know what is best for their country. The qualification is locked for the League Cup winner, we decided a long time ago.

»It would be harsh for UEFA to clamp down and say 'no way, stop this'. If this cup is meant to be important in the English ecosystem, it's not for UEFA to step in and say 'no'.

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«It's been decided like this for more than 20 years. (If) England one day will come and say 'we don't need it any more' if it will happen, I don't know.»

The Champions League and Europa League group phase will now run into January, which has always previously been reserved for