Liverpool dream still alive

Liverpool’s hopes of playing in the Champions League next season are still alive despite UEFA’s insistence England can have a maximum of four teams in Europe’s elite club competition.

Several leading figures in European football have been persuaded Liverpool should be allowed to defend their trophy without taking the place of an English side – in this case Everton – who qualified through the Barclays Premiership.

A final decision will be taken in three weeks’ time when UEFA’s 15-man executive committee meets in Manchester on June 17.

The Football Association, who have already decided the top four sides in the Premiership will play in the Champions League, are to intensify lobbying to persuade UEFA members that Liverpool – who finished fifth in the domestic league - should qualify.

It is understood Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer is among those who have been convinced Liverpool should defend their crown. Beckenbauer is not on the executive committee but he is standing for election to be the next UEFA president.

FA chairman Geoff Thompson is a UEFA vice-president and will be able to raise the issue at the meeting next month. Of four other members spoken to by the Press Association today, one pledged support for the FA’s position while the other three said they will keep an open mind.

FA executive director David Davies said they would step up the pressure on UEFA.

Davies told the Press Association: “What we expect is that over the next three weeks a number of senior figures in European football – who are not English – will speak out on Liverpool’s behalf.

“We understand UEFA’s situation but we believe that for sporting reasons and for the wider interests of European football Liverpool should get a special exemption.

“We think there is a clear inconsistency that countries such as Germany, which have three sides in the Champions League, would get an extra place in this situation but England, Italy and Spain do not.

“UEFA have to address this situation now – it’s not sufficient to say they will look at it next year.

“We know there is a body of support on UEFA’s executive committee for our view and we trust that it will be discussed at the UEFA executive committee on June 17 in Manchester and that they will understand our argument.”

UEFA communications director William Gaillard insists he expects Liverpool to be playing in the UEFA Cup next season because a precedent had been set in the 2000-01 season, when Real Madrid defended the trophy despite finishing fifth because the Spanish football federation decided to hand them Real Zaragoza’s place.

He said: “The rules are what they are. They were used already once when Real Madrid won...... and actually were not among the qualifiers in the Spanish league.

“There could be a discussion with the executive committee but we don’t normally change rules in the middle of the competition.”

It is not the middle of the competition, however, and the meeting will take place between Champions League campaigns.

UEFA president Lennart Johansson, the most powerful man in the organisation by far, is also understood to have told Liverpool chairman David Moores he would try to help.

A senior UEFA figure told the Press Association: “If the president decides he wants Liverpool to be the fifth English side in Europe then he can try to persuade the executive committee to change the rules. It is in their power and he has definitely left the door open for discussion.”

The FA will not press for Liverpool to be given outright qualification, but at least be allowed to join the qualifying rounds – Welsh champions TNS have already offered to give up their place if Liverpool beat them in a ’pre-qualifier’.

Meanwhile, other figures have lined up behind Liverpool.

Sports minister Richard Caborn told the Press Association: “I have raised the matter with UEFA’s chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson and said it would be a travesty if Liverpool were not allowed to play in next year’s competition, particularly after such an amazing final.

“They should re-think this issue and I think they will have to. Nothing is set in stone and it seems only right that the winners should have automatic re-entry rather than having to qualify through the domestic system. It is only common sense.”

Liverpool’s manager Rafael Benitez said it would be “unbelievable” if his side were not allowed to defend their trophy, while chief executive Rick Parry claimed “the world would want to see us have the opportunity to defend it after that”.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick insisted they would keep lobbying UEFA.

He told www.thefa.com: “What UEFA have, and I sympathise with them to a degree, is a situation where they are faced with not having their own champions in their own competition which is called the Champions League. I think in its own way that tells its own story.

“Liverpool finished outside the top four. I think the FA were right and proper to put the top four in to the Champions League. That’s how teams kicked off in August, expecting a top four finish to give them qualification or pre-qualification and that will not be changed.”