UEFA faces more than 20 million euros in compensation for 'plagiarism'

As is known, since 2024, UEFA has reformed the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. In addition to expanding from 32 to 36 teams, the traditional group stage has been replaced with a new format.

This format is often referred to as the Swiss system, where all 36 teams are drawn into one group, with each team playing eight different opponents, four at home and four away. The fixtures are drawn once to determine the match-ups, with each team playing two teams from four nine-team seeding pots.

According to Chile-based sports consultancy Matchvision, this is the "seed group" concept that founder Leandro Shara registered in Chile in 2006. Matchvision also said that it presented the idea to UEFA in 2013 and at several sports conferences thereafter. Matchvision's idea has been used in several countries and FIFA recognizes it as MatchVision's intellectual property.

According to Matchvision, UEFA has "stolen" the idea of the club tournament classification round.

MatchVision began its lawsuit against UEFA in April, filing a lawsuit with the commercial court in Madrid, Spain. The same court recently dismissed UEFA’s appeal in the long-running Euro Super League (ESL) case. However, in September, MatchVision’s case was transferred to a court in Lausanne, Switzerland, where UEFA is based. If it receives formal notice from the court, UEFA will have 20 working days to respond.

Shara's founder himself threatened UEFA with legal action before the 2024/25 Champions League qualifying round draw. Having received no satisfactory response, he said he had no choice but to sue and demand damages.

Shara is asking for 200,000 euros in compensation, while Matchvision is asking for 20,005,551 euros. They are also asking for interest on the damages from last season, this season and next season. UEFA, on the other hand, commented last year that "MatchVision's complaints are unfounded, and UEFA will defend its position."