CELTIC chief executive Peter Lawwell has been appointed as one of four key men who will try and change the Champions League format just days after the Neil Lennon's side were dumped out of the competition.
Celtic slumped to a shock 5-4 aggregate defeat to Romanian champions Cluj and were eliminated before the play-off stages.
However, one Celtic man was a winner this week: Lawwell.
The Parkhead chief was named as one of four men by the European Club Association to sit on UEFA's Professional Football Strategy Council for the next four years and will be charged with changing the heavily-criticised format of the Champions League.
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Lawwell will join Ajax chief Edwin van der Sar, vice president of Real Madrid Pedro Lopez and Arsenal's football director Raul Sanllehi in trying to radically alter Europe's top competition after major complaints over the qualification progress, which sees clubs like Celtic and Ajax being forced to undergo many rounds just to get into the Group Stages.
Lawwell, who is already a member of the ECA Executive Board, was appointed at a meeting of the 246-strong organisation in Liverpool.
They stated: "Our Executive Board appointed the four ECA representatives who will sit on the UEFA Professional Football Strategy Council for the upcoming cycle 2019-23. These are Pedro Lopez of Real Madrid, Rauul Sanllehi of Arsenal, Edwin van der Sar of Ajax and Peter Lawwell of Celtic.
"We have held multiple member forums and bilateral meetings. The aim has been to debate the principles behind the vision, seek feedback and input from members and assess the best ways to develop the UEFA club competitions over the long term.
"At our meeting, the Executive Board reviewed and discussed the feedback received to date. This will be analysed further over the coming weeks, but our members have made clear that the current structure of UEFA club competitions is not serving the interests of the majority of clubs, particularly those outside of the largest domestic competitions. ECA’s priority in the next phase of the consultation process is to work with stakeholders across football to find the best route for reform."
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