Women’s Champions League abolishes cup-tied players in change to regulations

Uefa have announced a major rule change ahead of the Women’s Champions League restart, allowing clubs to register new players that have played in the competition earlier this season.

The quarter-final clubs - Arsenal, PSG, Glasgow City, Wolfsburg, Lyon, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona - are now able to register six new players for the remainder of the competition, which will be finished behind closed doors in Spain next month. The players may have been fielded for another club in a previous round, but only a maximum of three can have played for another of the eight quarter-final teams.

This means Arsenal’s new signing Noelle Maritz - signed on Friday from Wolfsburg - is able to play for the last English team remaining in the competition, along with Australians Caitlin Foord - signed in January - and Steph Catley, their first signing of the summer window. Goalkeeper Lydia Williams and midfielder Malin Gut are also eligible.

PSG can field the former Chelsea forward Ramona Bachmann and Wolfsburg Pauline Bremer, who left Manchester City at the end of the season. Atletico are able to use the former Chelsea and Wolfsburg goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl as well as Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, who left Arsenal earlier in the summer.

The Women’s Champions League will resume in August. No games have been played in the competition since October 31 last year because the quarter-final matches — which were due to be played on Wednesday March 25 — were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 final was originally due to be played on 24 May at the Generali Arena in the south of Vienna, Austria, which has a capacity of 17,656. 19,487 attended last year’s final between Lyon and Barcelona  at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary.