Chinese-owned Wanda Sports has played down a report that it's backing plans to launch a club soccer tournament to rival the European Champions League.
A report in the Financial Times said the group was seeking support in England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany by promising more places for teams in an enlarged tournament and higher revenues from broadcasting rights.
The report said talks had begun with Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A and that Wanda was planning to start discussions with the Premier League, the German Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 after the European championship conclude on Sunday.
Wanda Sports said in a statement the article gave the impression that it is "pushing for European leagues and clubs to join a new competition and this impression is not accurate."
Its representatives talked regularly to those involved in the sports industry to explore ways in which sports and business can be further developed, the statement said.
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Conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, owned by billionaire Wang Jianlin, has been building up its sports business arm which owns a 20 per cent stake in Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in the Champions League last season.
It bought Swiss-based sports marketing firm Infront in a $US1.2 billion ($A1.60 billion) deal last year.
Currently, clubs from England, Germany and Spain are granted four spots in the Champions League, while teams from France, Italy and Portugal are allotted three places each.
Continental European clubs are reported to be keen on changes to the Champions League to secure a more reliable flow of revenue and to try to keep up with teams from the English Premier League.
