
Arsenal are leading calls for a boycott of the Champions League by Europe's biggest clubs unless Uefa president Michel Platini scraps his controversial reforms for the competition.
The 18 clubs which make up the G14 are threatening to set up a breakaway European Super League unless Platini backs down over his pledge to open up the Champions League to more countries from smaller nations.
They also want him to shelve his proposals to allow the winners of domestic cup competitions, including the holders of the FA Cup, entry into Europe's premier club tournament.
A final decision is due to be made by the Uefa executive at a meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, on Nov 30. But frantic negotiations are already under way between the leading clubs and leagues in Europe to persuade Platini to drop his controversial reforms.
Arsenal are bitterly opposed to the proposal which would see the cup winners from the top 16 European countries battling it out for four places in the lucrative group phase, arguing that it devalues the competition.
The matter came to a head two weeks ago at a meeting of the G14 management board where Keith Edelman, the Arsenal managing director, told fellow senior officials from Barcelona, Porto, Juventus, Barcelona and Bayern Munich that the only way to force Platini to change his mind was to threaten Uefa with a boycott or a breakaway.