UEFA won't finalise new Champions League format until April

The introduction of the new Champions League format has stalled with UEFA delaying the decision until next month.

UEFA hoped to use an executive committee meeting on Wednesday to ratify the expansion of the group stage from 32 to 36 teams, jumping from six to 10 rounds of matches.

But now April 19 has been penciled in as the new date by UEFA to try to secure final approval on the post-2024 structure of European club football's elite competition.

"The future of club competitions post-2024 will be one of the topics discussed (on Wednesday)," UEFA said. "However, any official decision in this respect will only be made at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on 19 April, in order to finalise ongoing discussions."

While the new format has appeared to gain approval of clubs and domestic leagues in recent weeks, there are still decisions to reach consensus on the governance of the competition.

European Leagues president Lars-Christer Olsson said last week he received "guarantees that no clubs are taking over the club competitions from UEFA" during a conversation with the governing body's leadership.

"It's UEFA club competitions and they will always have the final say," Olsson said. "That is not handed over to any other body for decision making."