Welcome to the website of the newly proposed

Central European League (CEL)

Copyright © 2021

WHO WE ARE

The Managing Director of the project is Árpád Szőczi, sports journalist and devoted football fan. He has been covering sports for more than 30 years, from his home town Toronto (Canada) where he worked at CBC-TV to Berlin where he works as a freelancer for Deutsche Welle TV and to Budapest where he is the occasional news host for the English-language show “Hungary Reports” at MTVA in Budapest.

He is establishing a network of like-minded individuals in various countries in Central Europe.

More information will be regularly revealed as the project is now quickly developing.

THE PROJECT

We would like to organize a new league – called the Central European League (“CEL”, pronounced “Sell” in English) by the end of the next UEFA cycle which finishes in 2024.

It would also be a type of “V4” (Visegrad 4) league that refers to the group of central European countries working in close cooperation with one another (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) as well as two other countries (for example, Croatia and Serbia).

The goal is for football in those countries:

• To improve and be much more successful than it currently is

• To attract more fans

• To be more attractive to players

• To make it more attractive to investors

How It Would Work (please note that discussions are ongoing):

The top three teams at the end of the 2023 – 2024 season from each of the six countries would qualify. That would mean a league with 18 teams (six countries x three teams). Each team would play a home-and-away series just like in other leagues. For example, Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) would play Ferencváros (Hungary), and there would be a return match, also.

Altogether each team would play 34 games in the CEL.

At the end of the season the top two teams from each country in the CEL would stay in the CEL, the third will be replaced by the current National League champion. Consequently, the champion from each country’s National League would then be promoted to the CEL.

The incentive for teams remaining in each country’s National League to qualify for the CEL would also improve the level of play there.

Each Nation’s Cup Games:

All teams in the CEL would still participate in their nations’ Cup games. If a team in the CEL also wins its country’s Cup competition, it will compete in the Europa Cup in the upcoming season. However, if that team has already qualified for the upcoming season’s Champions League, Champions League qualifiers or Europa League, then it forfeits its Cup qualification for the Europa League, and the runners-up in the Cup final qualifies for the Europa League.

Qualifying for the Champions League:

The first four teams from the CEL would qualify. Teams placed 5 - 8 would qualify for the qualifying rounds.

Qualifying for the Europa League:

Teams placed 9 - 12 would qualify for the Europa League. So does the winner of each nation’s Cup final. As previously mentioned, if the winner of a nation’s Cup final is in the CEL and will play either in the Champions League, its qualifying round or Europa League in the upcoming season, then it forfeits its Cup qualification for the Europa League, and the runners-up in the Cup final qualifies for the Europa League.

Finances:

• We need support from UEFA to a) approve the plan, and b) help finance it.

• A Marketing Division must be set up to find sponsors and arrange broadcast deals.

We believe the CEL will be very attractive to domestic and international sponsors.

Results:

We have a committee which has met so far with more than half of Hungary’s First Division teams. All support the idea except one team, so far. We are lobbying throughout Central Europe for the rest of 2021 and expect wide-spread support.

We have sat down with the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) to discuss this and have also received correspondence from its president, Sándor Csányi. The Hungarian FA likes the idea, but has so far not committed.

We believe this is a win-win situation for all involved. Especially for the fans.

CONTACT

Árpád Szőczi

00-36-20-3587097, 00-49-172-323 4159

E-mail: euronair@aol.com

Hungary: 1146 Budapest, Dózsa György út 19.

Germany: Seelingstr. 47-49, 14059 Berlin