EDWIN VAN DER SAR has again looked to fight Celtic’s corner as well as other big clubs in minor leagues across Europe.
The legendary Dutchman who now works for Ajax has been helping to spearhead the resistance against big European clubs making the Champions League a closed shop.
Lawwell and Van der Sar have had talks with each other about the ongoing situation at UEFA and are making sure clubs like Celtic and Ajax are heard.
The Dutch club find themselves in the semi-final of the Champions League in what’s the surprise story of this years competition.
Stories like this will disappear though if the top four or five leagues get most of the big spots in the competition.
Speaking about the change to RecordSport the former Manchester United goalkeeper was clear:
“We need to create a system where the big clubs in the minor leagues can still confront the most important leagues.
“I think of clubs like like us, Celtic, Benfica, Anderlecht, Salzburg, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
“But the system at the moment is that the differences between the various national leagues, especially in terms of TV rights, deny competitiveness.
“We get around £8million in TV rights a year – that means we have little chance of competing. Our only weapon is football.
“We have to produce home players but the rich clubs can shop around the world. Something has to be done.”
Celtic didn’t make this years Champions League, falling at the qualifiers. Again the Scottish Champions will have to negotiate four rounds of knockout style matches to reach the group stage.
