Arsenal can win the Champions League on Saturday and still not walk away with the original trophy. UEFA’s rules mean that if Mikel Arteta’s side beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final, the silverware would go back to the governing body in Switzerland and Arsenal would keep only a replica.
That detail matters because Arsenal are trying to become the seventh English team to win the competition, and the final is now the point at which the club’s season collides with a rule introduced years ago to control who owns the game’s most famous prize. Arteta, speaking on the eve of the final in Budapest, described competing for it as a “privilege,” but the privilege does not extend to permanent possession of the original cup.
UEFA changed its policy in 2009 so that each season’s winner receives a replica trophy with its name engraved on it, while the original returns to UEFA headquarters in Switzerland after the match. The replica must be clearly marked as such and cannot be larger than 80% of the actual trophy’s size. Before that rule change, clubs could keep the cup if they won the competition five times in total or three times in a row.
The old system left a trail of permanent keepers. Real Madrid received the original cup after winning the first five editions of the competition between 1956 and 1960. Ajax became eligible after three successive titles between 1970 and 1973, and Bayern Munich after three consecutive triumphs from 1974 to 1976. AC Milan later won the tournament for a fifth time in 1994, while Liverpool became the only English club to retain the trophy permanently after beating Milan in 2005.
That is why Arsenal’s place in Saturday’s final will be judged on more than the scoreboard. Barcelona were required to return the silverware to UEFA after winning the 2015 final against Juventus, a reminder that modern winners get the celebration, the replica and the photographs — but not the original piece of history. If Arsenal beat PSG, the club’s next task will be deciding what kind of display the replica gets, because the real trophy will already be back where UEFA says it belongs.
