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Ajax chief Edwin van der Sar has slammed UEFA for forcing his club and Celtic to play Champions League qualifiers.

The Dutch cracks reached the Champions League semi-final last season, but still have to enter the tournament in the third qualifying round, with Celtic having to play in the first qualifying round.

That's in contrast to clubs in England, Spain, Italy and Germany who have the luxury of having four teams already safely in the Group stage.

And former Manchester United and Holland keeper van der Sar has again lashed out at European football's governing body in his other role as vice-chairman of the European Club Association.

(Image: Getty Images for Soccerex)

He said: "Leading clubs from mid-sized associations, like Celtic , FC Copenhagen or Ajax, should not be solely dependent on the position of their association in the UEFA Country Ranking, but also be rewarded for their own performance, both domestically and in the European club competitions.

"Starting at this stage means that you have to be ready in a very early part of the season, which brings a lot of pressure in many different aspects.

"Some of our players already started this year in the third week of June, but the best international players of our squad started much later as a result of having international duties like the the Nations League, African Cup of Nations and Copa America.

"Last year we managed to be ready on time, even coming from earlier on, so we know it is possible. But for sure it will be extremely difficult to repeat this story of success.

"It does feel a bit unfair that reaching the semi-final of last season’s Champions League and winning both the Dutch League and Cup is less valuable in terms of access for Champions League than finishing fourth in one of the top four leagues."

Van der Sar's comments follow his earlier calls for a more level playing field for big clubs in the competition.

(Image: Ross Turpie)

He said back in April: "We need to create a system where the big clubs in the minor leagues can still confront the most important leagues.

"I think of clubs like like us, Celtic, Benfica, Anderlecht, Salzburg, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

"I have recently discussed this with Agnelli. There are some things I share his view on like playing more European games.

"But the system at the moment is that the differences between the various national leagues, especially in terms of TV rights, deny competitiveness.

"We get around £8million in TV rights a year - that means we have little chance of competing. Our only weapon is football.

"We have to produce home players but the rich clubs can shop around the world. Something has to be done."