Although Platini has agreed to postpone a final decision on reform by a month after opposition from leagues and clubs, he made it clear he is prepared to force through the changes.

Platini said: "The English FA Cup is one of the greatest competitions and the winner really deserves to be represented in the Champions League rather than the team that comes fourth."

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, one of the clubs' representatives on UEFA's new Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), said it remained to be demonstrated how the changes would benefit football.

The Platini plans include:

:: England, Spain and Italy having three teams qualifying automatically for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league. The champions of Europe's leading 12 countries would be guaranteed a place in the group phase.

:: The top 16 countries including England and Scotland would have domestic cup winners entering a qualifying competition with four group stage places up for grabs.

:: Six group stage places reserved for the champions of the 40 lowest leagues among UEFA's 53 member countries, who would play off in three qualifying rounds.

:: The final played on a Saturday night rather than Wednesday night in a stadium of a minimum 75,000 capacity with 75% of tickets reserved for fans.

:: The UEFA Cup changed to a similar format as the Champions League, with the Intertoto Cup scrapped.

Platini said the leagues and clubs could present counter-proposals to UEFA's executive committee in November.

He said: "We need to ensure football is more balanced so that the rich do not become much richer.

"If another proposal is better than my philosophy that is fine but I doubt they will come up with something better.

"Unless someone comes up with a fabulous proposal we will decide on mine."

Platini unveiled his proposals in Monaco today to the PFSC, made up of representatives of UEFA, the clubs, the leagues and players' unions.

Kenyon warned however that it would be a mistake for UEFA to over-ride the clubs and leagues.

He said: "The way the strategy council has been set up is to gain the views of everyone in football, That has been a long time in coming and it would be unfortunate if it fell at the first hurdle.

"Clubs generally across Europe felt that there wasn't a need for change and I was delighted there was no decision today.

"Ironically in this proposal, England is one of the countries that changes the least of all. There would be three automatic spots instead of two so there is a benefit there and over the last 10 years, the FA Cup winners have been one of the four.

"We have one of the best club competitions in the world so it needs to be demonstrated what benefits change would bring."

The new UEFA Cup format would see a group stage involving 48 teams divided into 12 groups. The winners and runners-up would go into a knockout round of 32 along with the teams finishing third in the Champions League group stage.

Platini's proposals for the Champions League final from 2009 followed problems at this season's final in Athens when Liverpool fans were involved in trouble outside the stadium.

Platini added: "I would like to see 75% of the stadium being reserved for fans.

"After the final in Athens I would like to see the Champions League final played at a weekend. I was very, very disappointed that there were no children in the stadium - if it was on a Saturday then children and families could come.

"I also want the final in future to be in a big, modern stadium with a capacity of about 75,000 people. There is always vast demand for tickets, and people come without tickets and that creates a security problem."