UEFA Executive Committee meeting

[El Turco]

UEFA Executive Committee made couple notable decisions:

-European championship will expand to 24 teams starting 2016.

-Recomitment to Euro 2012 being held in Ukraine and Poland

-UEFA Cup will be renamed as UEFA Europa Cup in 09/10 season

-UEFA Cup format will also change

-Starting 2010, Champions League finals will be played on Saturday evenings

i personally dont like to team increase for Euro Championships. i think it is going to decrease the high competitiveness of the competition which it thrives on. smells like it s done to make sure England doesnt miss the competition again

[BlackMamba]

i also don't like a bit the increase in euro teams, that's the interesting part of the euro.

[Slava]

^^yeah I second that. Right after one of the most entertaining Euros of all time, they go ahead and modify the number of teams? It'll just liquidate the competition and reduce the fun for the fans.

[Rasheeed!!!]

that's the reason i prefer Euro's to WC....less teams = higher quality...now they want to water it down?

[BlackMamba]

yeah, it's absurd, if teams like england can't qualify, heck! who cares? let the best teams get there. what will be next? having all teams except san marino, andorra and luxemburgo to play?

[Andris]

Euro 2012 co-host Poland is in a soccer game-fixing mess now.....
UEFA made a mistake giving the event to Poland and Ukraine.
Scotland and Wales is eager to co-host the championships....

[El Turco]

i think there should be rule that requires to have at least semi decent team before hosting the tournament. i hated seeing Austria in 08 and i am sure i would hate to see Wales if they host it.

actually, they should just award it to Spain as a prize for winning the cup. they got the stadiums and infrastructure to hold just about any big event.

[BlackMamba]

i think that the idea of the euro to give every country a chance but they could end up making the mistake the fifa did allowing south africa (because of the continent thing) the world cup, they are countries that aren't "soccerly" known but also have financial issues.

i think they should have a good plan and analysis of the candidates. see the structure of their soccer, the stadiums, teams, history, etc. of course to have the economic plan to have it all for what it takes to make an event like this, hotels, security, transportation, etc.

and another thing i don't like is having the tournaments in 2 countries.

[El Turco]

Last month’s decision to expand the European championship finals from 16 to 24 teams was branded “silly” by FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday.

“I was not happy about it,” Blatter told reporters on a visit to Brussels. “Practically half of the associations will qualify which seems silly to me.”

European soccer’s governing body voted to expand the Euro finals from 2016, which means nearly half of UEFA’s 53 countries will reach the finals.

“I am not sure about (diminishing) the quality but it is too complicated for me and not simple enough for countries to compete,” added Blatter.

that s the another part i dont get, how are they going to organize it? they cant do four groups of six teams due to time constraints. i assume they are going to have 6 groups with group leaders and two best second place teams advance to quarters?

[Slava]

8 groups and 3 in a group and may be the winner of the groups play the quarters?

Its really like making the qualifying a part of the tournament itself imo. Pretty boneheaded move.

[H12BULLS]

It's going to be 6 groups of 4. Top two from each group plus 4 best third placed sides will advance to the round of 16.

[BlackMamba]

i hope that tournament is a pretty bad one so they change it back to 16 teams.

[El Turco]

It's going to be 6 groups of 4. Top two from each group plus 4 best third placed sides will advance to the round of 16.

just like 94 world cup. which i hated since groups are rarely balanced if ever and it is easier for some teams to become best third place teams.