UEFA accused of trade secrets theft and plagiarism in the Champions League

The draw for the 2024/25 Champions League, which took place on 26 August in Monaco, set the calendar for the games to be played in this competition for the season. In addition to the usual excitement this event brings, this year's event has been marked by a controversy. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has been accused of plagiarism by the Chilean consultant Leandro Shara, who claims to be the true creator of the new competition format, which was based on his ideas and technologies without his consent.

Indeed, UEFA changed the competition format this year, abandoning the classical group format and in its stead opting for a league format in which each team will play 8 games against different opponents and a general classification from which the top teams progress to the next stage of the competition. According to UEFA, this new format would have made the traditional drawing process unbearably long. To make the process more flexible and dynamic, UEFA has opted for a special automated software that randomly selects eight opponents for each team from four pots and determines whether the matches will be played at home or away.

According to Shara, the system used in the new Champions League format is not an original idea of UEFA, but was developed by him and presented to several high-ranking officials of the organisation, including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, only to be told that UEFA would not be using this system. Shara therefore demands that he be recognised as the inventor of the drawing format. Moreover, the Chilean consultant claims that his intellectual property and algorithm are recognized by FIFA. In addition to restructuring the competition, Shara points out that this new format will bring significant economic benefits to UEFA,  and also claims that these financial aspects were part of his original proposal, thus supporting his accusation that UEFA obtained the format dishonestly.

The UEFA has not made any official statement on the claims yet, but the issue is expected to be a topic of discussion off the pitch in the coming weeks.