Football News: English League Cup or better known as Carabao Cup is the annual knockout competition in England along with the FA Cup. But the new UEFA Champions League schedule has now put this in threat!
UEFA has put forward a new footballing calendar from the 2024/25 season. The Champions League is being expanded from 32 to 36 teams. Hence the number of group stage games is going to rise from 6 to 8.
To add to this, the Europa League and the Conference League will also get an exclusive week to themselves to complete their group stage. Hence the European competitions would dominate the midweek calendar between September and December.
This spells bad news for the Carabao Cup as it is played predominantly in these months. Hence there could be a conflict of scheduling for the clubs participating in the European Leagues.
Football News: Why is the English League Cup only in conflict?
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Football News: Most European countries have a single knockout competition along with the league competition. Whereas in England, there is the FA Cup and the League Cup along with the leagues.
The FA Cup generally gathers steam and starts introducing the Premier League clubs from January. Hence the English League Cup is generally held in the first half of the season with its finals being played in February.
The English League Cup cant exclude the sides participating in European competitions as this would hit their revenue. Whereas these top 6-8 English clubs would choose the European competitions over this any day.
Hence the most popular clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc. would not participate if they have European commitments. Hence this would affect the global revenue and the competition would have to be terminated.
Over the years Liverpool and Manchester City have dominated the competition with 9 and 8 League Cup wins in its 62-year history. Liverpool are also incidentally the current holders having beaten Chelsea in the Finals in February 2022.
How can the Carabao Cup be continued?
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Football News: All Premier League clubs are bound by contract to play in the English League Cup. Hence they cannot just choose the European competitions over it. However, the English FA is reportedly working to make things right.
As per reports, the EFL executives could allow the clubs participating in the Champions League to play their U-23 teams in the competition early on. Hence the senior squad could take over the mantle in the latter stages of the tournament.
With the value of broadcasting and sponsorships tallying up to £80 million, this looks like the only way forward. It has to be seen what the English FA and the EFL executives decide to do in the upcoming seasons.
