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GENEVA -- The richest clubs and biggest leagues in Europe are set to tighten their grip on the Champions Leagues future format and prize money this week.A deal being prepared by UEFA should end threats by some elite clubs to break away and form a closed European Super League before 2021.However, it could ensure that more guaranteed places in the 32-team group stage and bigger shares of billion-dollar prize money each season will go to teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus from the four highest-ranked national leagues.In the hours before the group-stage draw on Thursday, a series of meetings with clubs and UEFA executive committee members in Monaco is expected to agree changes to entry slots for the 2018-2021 seasons.UEFA and the influential European Club Association declined to comment on reports that the top leagues -- in Spain, Germany, England and Italy -- will each get four direct entries into the groups.In a statement to The Associated Press, UEFA said only that it expects to announce the evolution of the Champions League at a news conference on Friday.Italian clubs are looking to be the big winner. Serie A would offer four direct entries to the group stage, compared to two in the current three-season commercial cycle which expires in 2018.Spain, England and Germany would also benefit by ending the risk of its fourth-placed club losing in the playoff round each August. Advancing through the playoffs is worth tens of millions of euros (dollars) as UEFA will share 1.3 billion euros ($1.47 billion) among the 32 group-stage clubs this season.Italy has a dire recent record in playoffs. Serie A sends its third-placed team to the final qualifying stage and only AC Milan in 2014 has advanced in the past six seasons.Changing the Champions League format is possible only every three years. It must be agreed before UEFAs retained marketing agency can sell Champions League and Europa League rights to broadcasters and sponsors for the next cycle.The debate this year has been intense with clubs seeming to take advantage of a UEFA leadership gap since outgoing president Michel Platini was suspended by FIFA last year.It should be resolved ahead of a Champions League draw missing recent winners Manchester United, Chelsea, AC Milan and Inter Milan. They all failed to qualify, but would expect to join an American-style closed European league where the likes of surprise English champion Leicester would not automatically appeal to most broadcasters.Options favorable to the most influential clubs included more entries for the top leagues, bigger shares of the prize fund, protected places for storied clubs with a global fan base, and playing matches on Saturdays rather than midweek to appeal to Asian and American audiences. Outside Europe, viewers are judged to want more games between high-profile teams.The deal now reportedly on UEFAs table gives clubs some concessions, while keeping Platinis vision for the worlds most prestigious club competition.Platini, who played in the 1980s-era European Cup when only national champions were in a pure knockout bracket, had worked to protect entries for more teams from middle-ranking countries.This season, Bruges, Basel and Besiktas -- title winners in Belgium, Switzerland and Turkey -- are among 22 teams with direct group-stage entry. It is unclear how those places could be squeezed if the big-four leagues get 16 guaranteed slots instead of 11 at present.Basel president Bernhard Heusler declined to comment to The AP ahead of attending Thursdays meeting of the UEFA club competitions committee.UEFA acknowledged the next format is being agreed sooner than expected. A deadline of Decembers meeting of the UEFA executive committee was set after tense meetings in Milan on May 28, ahead of the Champions League final.The new timetable should see the tournaments immediate future settled before the UEFA presidential vote on Sept. 14 to replace Platini.The election front-runner, Aleksander Ceferin of Slovenia, has won public support from countries like Denmark and Sweden, whose title-holders regularly qualify for Champions League groups but are not seen as commercially attractive.Some club leaders, including Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, say the Champions League is undervalued despite UEFA raising 2.24 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in annual commercial revenue for the Champions League and Europa League combined in the 2015-2018 cycle.That gives a 12 million euro ($13.6 million) basic fee to each team in the Champions League groups. The top earner can get around 100 million euros ($113 million) from UEFA when results bonuses and TV rights shares are added.Still, that is barely more than the English Premier League pays its last-place team from TV money, and the top European clubs want a bigger share of Champions League money from the next deal.That deal could be struck, fittingly, on Thursday in a five-star hotel in Monte Carlo. David Montgomery Jersey Large . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Custom Bears T-shirts . 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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants must think they have a shot at ending their four-year playoff drought.After bolstering their league-worst defense with the free agent signings of end Olivier Vernon, tackle Damon Snacks Harrison, linebacker Keenan Robinson and cornerback Janoris Jenkins and the re-signing of end Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants dug into their pockets again on Thursday and signed unrestricted free agent cornerback Leon Hall.The signing of Hall a week after players reported to training camp gives new coach Ben McAdoo a veteran who knows how to play in the slot in passing situations.That was one of the big question marks in the revamped defense, while adding depth to the secondary.He is a versatile guy, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said Thursday. He is an experienced vet and I think he can bring some things to the package, so we can do some multiple things that maybe we didnt have a chance to do until this point.The Giants have come into camp debating whether to use either Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, rookie Eli Apple or journeyman Trevin Wade in the slot, a position that combines coverage ability with a run-stopping capability.Hall did that in his nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, and was good at it.The Giants now have to get him ready. He had back surgery after last season. He worked out for the Giants on Wednesday, flew home to Cincinnati and returned to sign his new contract. He watched practice from the sideline on Thursday.Talent is definitely there, Hall said of the defense. I know that they expect better and I think that they will be better. This is the first practice Ive seen and they looked pretty good and I know the talent is there.Hall needs to learn the defense, the new terminology and to get used to playing with new teammates.Spagnuolo said that will take a little time. While Hall can play both inside and outside, he envisions that Hall will play inside.Its bitter-sweet, Hall said of leeaving Cincinnati.dddddddddddd It was a tough decision to make. Obviously, my family is back there, so thats number one. Like I said, I felt comfortable here and I felt good about where this team is going. I like Coach McAdoo and really what hes been doing since he got here. Like I said, I just went off my gut instincts and I feel comfortable here.Spagnuolo joked that with all the new additions, he is now under pressure.We are piecing it together, he said. The more talent you can get with really good coaching, the better chance you have of doing good.The defense was not good last season, finishing 32nd in the league. It failed to hold six games either late in the fourth quarter or in overtime.Linebacker Jonathan Casillas felt the defense let former coach Tom Coughlin down in a second consecutive 6-10 season that led to a coaching change.Its tough to swallow when you wear that number on your back, No. 32, Casillas said. Like I said we are all grown men, responsible and hungry human beings and we want to do better, and we will do better.A first-round draft pick of Cincinnati in 2007, Hall played all nine of his seasons with the Bengals, starting 109 of 125 games, including the playoffs. He had two interceptions last season, giving him 26 in his career. The Michigan product had 470 tackles, three interceptions returned for touchdowns, 112 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.To make roster space, the Giants waived cornerback Tramain Jacobs, who had three special teams tackles in five games last season.Game notes PK Josh Brown returned to practice after missing a day for personal reasons. ... WR Odell Beckham Jr. (lower leg) and TE Matt LaCosse (knee) did not practice. ...Rookie Sterling Shepard had a couple of nice catches.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '