UEFA has moved to increase the financial rewards from playing in the Europa League by announcing prize money for the tournament will increase by 65 per cent.
An increase in television money for UEFA will also see prize money for the Champions League go up but the disparity with the Europa League will not be so great from 2015-18.
At the moment, clubs in the Champions League earn an average of four and half times as much as those playing in the Europa League, but in the future UEFA will fix the ratio at 3.3 to one. Solidarity payments to those clubs who fail to qualify for the group stages will also rise significantly.
The prize money for the winner of the Champions League final will rise from 10.5m euros (£7.6m) to 15million euros (£10.9m), and the winner of the competition could earn a maximum of 54.5m euros (£39.6m) in prize money plus TV cash from their share of the market pool.
The move comes following a new agreement with the European Clubs' Association (ECA), which is also to have two representatives co-opted onto UEFA's executive committee – one of whom is expected to be ECA president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
The ECA and UEFA also announced a new agreement over payments to clubs whose players participate at Euro 2020.
For the first time, the clubs' financial benefits will be calculated as a percentage of the total revenue and will receive eight per cent of the income from broadcast, commercial and ticketing/hospitality, with a minimum set of 200million euros (£145m) – 50million more than at Euro 2016.
UEFA president Michel Platini added: "I am very pleased that we have extended our partnership with the ECA until 2022. I have always believed that UEFA should work together with national associations and clubs in order to find the best ideas and solutions for European football."
