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The FA Cup winners will qualify for the Champions League while the final of Europe’s top club competition will be held on a Saturday under new proposals by Michel Platini, the Uefa president.

Although Platini has agreed to postpone a final decision on reform by a month after opposition from leagues and clubs, he made it clear today that he is prepared to force through the changes.

“The English FA Cup is one of the greatest competitions and the winner really deserves to be represented in the Champions League rather than the team that comes fourth,” Platini said.

Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive and one of the clubs’ representatives on Uefa’s new Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), said it remained to be demonstrated how the changes would benefit football.

Platini’s plans would also ensure that three teams from England, Spain and Italy qualify automatically for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league while the champions of Europe’s leading 12 countries would be guaranteed a place in the group phase.

The domestic cup winners from the top 16 countries, including England and Scotland, would enter a qualifying competition with four group-stage places up for grabs. Platini also wants the final to be played on a Saturday, rather than a Wednesday evening, in a stadium with a 75,000 capacity and with 75 per cent of tickets reserved for fans. The Uefa Cup would have a similar format to the Champions League, with the Intertoto Cup scrapped.

Platini said the leagues and clubs could present counter proposals to Uefa’s executive committee in November.

“We need to ensure football is more balanced so that the rich do not become much richer,” Platini said. “If another proposal is better than my philosophy that is fine, but I doubt they will come up with something better. Unless someone comes up with a fabulous proposal we will decide on mine.”

Platini presented his proposals to the PFSC, made up of representatives of Uefa, the clubs, the leagues and players’ unions, in Monaco today. Kenyon warned, however, that it would be a mistake for Uefa to override the clubs and leagues. He said: “The way the strategy council has been set up is to gain the views of everyone in football. That has been a long time in coming and it would be unfortunate if it fell at the first hurdle.

“Clubs generally across Europe felt that there wasn’t a need for change and I was delighted there was no decision today. Ironically, in this proposal, England is one of the countries that changes the least of all. There would be three automatic spots instead of two so there is a benefit there and over the last 10 years, the FA Cup winners have been one of the four.

“We have one of the best club competitions in the world so it needs to be demonstrated what benefits change would bring.”

The Uefa Cup format would see a group stage involving 48 teams divided into 12 groups. The winners and runners-up would go into a knockout round of 32 along with the teams finishing third in the Champions League group stage.

Platini’s proposals for the Champions League final, to be introduced from 2009, comes after problems at last season’s final in Athens, where Liverpool fans were involved in trouble outside the stadium.

Platini said: “I would like to see 75 per cent of the stadium reserved for fans. After the final in Athens I would like to see the Champions League final played at a weekend. I was very, very disappointed that there were no children in the stadium - if it was on a Saturday then children and families could come.

“I also want the final in future to be in a big, modern stadium with a capacity of about 75,000 people. There is always vast demand for tickets, and people come without tickets and that creates a security problem.”

The draw for the 2007-08 competition is being drawn from 1700BST and you can follow our live coverage here.