Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, acting chairman of the new European Clubs Association, said: "The hope is that a refreshment of the name and brand can help achieve better results than we've seen in the UEFA Cup in the past. There has been a general impression that it has become a second-class competition and that we should get back to how it was ten or 15 years ago".
A senior UEFA source told Reuters that the planned rebranding was meant to reflect the new group stage system being used in the competition from the 2009-10 season. The source also confirmed that UEFA's executive committee will vote on the name change when it meets in Bordeaux in September.
In December 2007 UEFA said that it was revamping the Cup’s format – dropping the five-team groups in which teams play each opponent just once either home or away in favour of a simpler home and away system. It is hoped that the new name will help distinguish it from the previous UEFA Cup format.
