Fans Question the New Version of the Champions League Draw: Entire Process Decided by Computer, How to Ensure No Backroom Manipulation?

In the early hours of August 30th, the new version of the Champions League draw for the 24/25 season was successfully conducted. However, after the results were announced, some fans angrily accused the Champions League draw of being “manipulated,” as this draw was almost entirely decided by a computer.

This top European competition’s new league stage draw produced some exciting matchups. Arsenal avoided a daunting schedule, with their toughest match being against Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. In contrast, Liverpool’s schedule is much more challenging, as they will face Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, and a series of other top teams.

However, fans were not satisfied with the new system that determined the schedule—this system included having Buffon draw the team names, followed by Ronaldo pressing a button to decide their opponents.

Many flocked to social media claiming it was rigged.

One person posted: “The format of this Champions League draw is cool, but how do we know it wasn’t rigged?”

Another wrote: “AI deciding the Champions League draw seems more like manipulation than them just randomly drawing and deciding the fate of the teams.”

A third person said: “Brand new Champions League format, Manchester City still drew easy opponents. Most obvious rigging.”

A fourth joked: “The Champions League draw was done by a computer. They can never escape accusations of match-fixing.”

Another added: “This Champions League draw has been computerized, which means it’s 100% rigged.”

However, no one provided any evidence to support the claim that the draw was manipulated. UEFA took measures to protect the draw from hacking. This included hiring a third-party company based in London, AE Live, to handle cybersecurity issues.

When asked about their preparedness to prevent hacking, an AE Live spokesperson stated: “We take cybersecurity very seriously. We are always held accountable. This is a very critical and sensitive issue. We adopt the highest industry practices to ensure its security.”

“I can assure everyone that, as a company, we have taken all possible steps to make it as secure and reliable as possible. We conducted risk assessments, but this is nothing new for us.”

Since last September, AE Live has been working with UEFA to develop software capable of executing the draw.