Reforms to European club football could price out future generations of supporters, UEFA has been warned.
The biggest changes to the Champions League in decades are set to be approved by UEFA's executive committee on Wednesday, with a new format taking the number of matches from 125 to 225 from the 2024-25 season onwards.
Leagues and associations from across the continent have expressed concerns about the logistics of accommodating those extra games, and Football Supporters' Europe (FSE) has pointed out that they come at a time when football fans' finances are squeezed by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
"In the current financial climate, it's going to be difficult for people to afford more and more games," its executive director Ronan Evain told German broadcaster DW.
"We'll potentially lose whole generations."
It is expected that UEFA will press ahead with plans to increase the number of matches in the group stage from six to 10, and to make significant changes to the qualification process.
Instead of a 32-team group phase with eight groups of four, teams will be placed in one 36-team league and play 10 games on a seeded basis under the so-called 'Swiss model'.
Two of the extra four places will go to teams based on their historic co-efficient, provided they have done enough to qualify for one of the lesser competitions - the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
This effectively creates a 'safety net' for Europe's heavyweight clubs in the event of a poor season, and is understood to be a major concern for the Premier League who fear it will lead to teams 'leapfrogging' higher-placed sides into a more lucrative European competition.
Evain said: "It opens the door for something a lot more dangerous - qualification based on history rather than sporting merit."
