The Football Association has denied changing its Champions League qualification policy amid claims that they have undergone a u-turn on their previous policy.
The FA announced yesterday that the Premiership’s top four will qualify for next season’s Champions League, even if Liverpool win this year’s final and finish outside the leading four.
However, a story on the FA website last year stated if an English team won the competition the fourth-placed league side would enter the Uefa Cup.
“This was not formal policy agreed by the FA Board,” an FA insider told the BBC.
“The FA website was simply publishing an interpretation of guidelines published by Uefa.
“This should not be confused with the issues of qualification for next season’s Champions League.
“Due to the ambiguity of Uefa’s regulations the FA sought clarification from Uefa, who clearly wanted the FA to make a decision.
“This was debated formally by the FA board twice and the Professional Game Board to establish the clear policy which was announced on Thursday.”
Everton are favourites to finish fourth as they lead Liverpool by three points with a game in hand.
