UEFA chief Alexander Ceferin has cast the future of the Scottish League Cup into doubt by insisting all European countries should have just one cup competition.
The Premier Sports Cup kicks off a week on Saturday for the 77th running of the competition, which was first played in 1946/47, just after the Second World War, with the first ever final won by Rangers. This season's tournament will start early next month with Premiership teams Hibs, St Mirren, Livingston, Ross County and Kilmarnock all playing on July 9, with Aberdeen travelling to face Peterhead the following day.
But if European football's governing body's president gets his way, it could soon be a competition of the past. The Slovenian hit out at complaints from top managers like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola about there being too much football, with the summer bout of Nations League fixtures particularly attracting strong criticism across Europe.
Rangers star Joe Aribo, for example, just completed his 70th game of a marathon season for club and country a couple of weeks ago.
But Ceferin reckons there's an easy way of reducing the fixtures - all 55 UEFA nations should only have one national cup competition only.
He said: "Domestic leagues should have a maximum of 18 clubs, but the presidents do not agree.
"They should also understand that two domestic cups are too many also."
Celtic won last season's League Cup for the 20th time, but are seven behind Rangers, who have lifted the trophy on 27 occasions. Aberdeen have won it six times, Hearts have triumphed on four occasions and city rivals Hibs three times, along with Dundee and East Fife.
