Manchester United and Liverpool met with 12 of Europe's big clubs in Madrid yesterday and agreed to accept the reforms of club competitions organised by the European football governing body UEFA, including the expansion of the Champions League from 24 clubs to 32.

The rubber-stamping of the proposals are a major set-back to Media Partners who had hoped to entice clubs into a European Super League.

The 14 clubs involved in the Spanish capital, including Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan, Paris St Germain, Marseille and FC Porto, have also requested that the reforms begin next year, at the start of the 19992000 season.

The clubs added that they wanted to set up a five-man commission to discuss the financial concerns of the new competitions. The commission will work with UEFA on the finer details of television contracts and all other contracts affecting money gained from the European competitions, in order to maximise revenue.

The reforms are expected to be given the final approval by UEFA's executive committee in Jerusalem on December 10th and will also rubber-stamp the combination of the Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup into one competition.

The 14 clubs also condemned Fiorentina's exclusion from the UEFA Cup after one of their matches was abandoned when a huge firework thrown from the crowd injured an official.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliai, a member of a newly-formed association of top teams, said: "The action of a vandal is an act of terrorism. Fiorentina do not deserve this punishment. The result on the pitch must always be maintained."

Fiorentina were virtually sure of victory while playing Zurich Grasshopper at home in the second round of the UEFA Cup on November 3rd when the firework was thrown onto the pitch. UEFA ruled Grasshopper should be awarded the tie, even though Fiorentina denied their fans were to blame.