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Move to 24-team Euro-championship boosts Scotland's
qualification hopes
By Andrew Warshaw
SCOTLAND'S hopes of taking centre stage alongside the powerhouses of European
football will be given a much-needed fillip this week when UEFA agrees
to increase the number of European Championship finalists from 16 to 24
teams, starting in 2016.
The Scots have been at the forefront of a campaign by the so-called second-tier
nations to persuade the UEFA hierarchy to open up football's second most
important tournament to the game's relative have-nots, with a view to
boosting both revenue and profile.
UEFA's executive committee will rubber-stamp the change at Friday's meeting
in Bordeaux, music to the ears of SFA chief executive Gordon Smith. "If
it happens, it will be great news for us," said Smith last night.
"Obviously, with 24 teams, there will be another round if you get
there but that would be outweighed by the excitement of the qualifying
groups with more teams vying for more spots."
Smith admitted, however, that expansion would be a double-edged sword.
With eight more teams taking part, smaller nations will find it increasingly
difficult to provide the necessary infrastructure to host the event. Switzerland
and Austria only just managed to cope with 16 finalists in June, a tournament
the Scots also coveted in a joint bid with Ireland that failed.
"There is no doubt about that," said Smith when asked if Scotland's
chances of staging the Championships would now be reduced. "But we've
thought about that. Even at 16 teams, it had become more difficult, though
having said that, we could still either sleep with Ireland or Wales because
I think UEFA would allow six stadiums and we already have four. But there
have been no discussions on whether we would try again."
Ironically, it was former SFA chief executive David Taylor who made expansion
almost a personal crusade, passionately campaigning on behalf of like-minded
colleagues around Europe as he argued the benefits would far outweigh
any suggestion of a reduction in quality. Taylor is now occupying a far
more influential position as UEFA's general secretary but is still understood
to be just as partial to the question of 24 teams, taking the view that
having the chance to compete alongside the elite is far more relevant
than any prospect of hosting the event.
Meanwhile, any hopes Scotland might have had of snatching Euro 2012 from
Poland and Ukraine look like being dashed after UEFA sources indicated
the tournament won't be moved when a final decision is taken in Bordeaux.
A 12-man technical delegation recently visited both countries amid fears
that politically troubled Ukraine would be unable to deliver the necessary
infrastructure. Prior to the visit, UEFA told Ukrainian authorities to
"wake up" and gave them until this week's pivotal meeting to
prove they had made sufficient progress.
Although Scotland has indicated it would be willing to step in, UEFA is
more likely to grant the entire event to Poland or ask neighbouring Germany,
which staged arguably the best ever World Cup in 2006, to step in and
co-host instead. Last night, senior UEFA sources described the issue as
one of the most sensitive the organisation had ever had to face but hinted
that Ukraine, which faces a colossal task in upgrading stadiums, building
hotels and overhauling roads and airports, would not be stripped of co-hosting
despite serious concerns about the ability of both ex-communist states
to meet the massive challenge ahead.
UEFA president Michel Platini is known to have privately favoured the
Italian bid, and even that of Croatia-Hungary, over Poland and Ukraine,
who were rank outsiders. Platini is determined, however, not to let the
issue drift any longer or to lose face, allowing Poland and Ukraine if
necessary to use six stadiums instead of eight.
"It could go to a vote but at this stage, there is no plan B,"
one UEFA insider said last night. "The concerns expressed were not
terminal concerns. We simply felt they were lagging behind in a number
of areas."
UEFA also seems certain to announce on Friday that, as from this season,
losing domestic cup finalists would be barred from entering the UEFA Cup
if the winners have already qualified for the Champions League. UEFA wants
all available spots to be allocated to league teams, ending years of tradition
both north and south of the border.
Had the rule been introduced this season, Queen of the South would not
have been permitted to play in Europe. It is all part of a campaign to
rebrand the UEFA Cup, which is expected to be renamed the UEFA Europa
League as of 2009-10 when a new group stage system will be introduced
to mirror the Champions League format. "With a new format you need
a new identity," said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard. "The
tournament is supposed to be for winners, not runners-up."
UEFA wants the new name to distinguish it from the previous UEFA Cup format
and help revive the competition, which has suffered in the shadow of the
lucrative Champions League and the global exposure and television revenues
that go with it. Many clubs currently view UEFA Cup qualification as a
poor consolation. Manchester United, for instance, earned ?43m for winning
in Moscow last May while clubs who played in the UEFA Cup's 40-team group
phase and subsequent knockout rounds shared just ?37m.
UEFA is also set to announce the establishment of a new special investigations
unit to deal with the growing number of match-fixing and illegal betting
scandals. Last December, UEFA handed police a list of 15 matches it suspected
may have been fixed.
KEY POINTS FOR UEFA
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
UEFA expected to vote to increase the number of European Championship
finalists from 16 to 24 teams, starting in 2016. It's the second major
expansion of the tournament in the last 20 years. In 1996 the competition
featured 16 finalists for the first time, double the eight teams who took
part in the finals in Sweden four years earlier.
UEFA CUP
Tournament likely to be rebranded as the "Europa League" from
season 2009-10 when a new group stage system brings to an end the current
system of playing two teams at home and two teams away. The revamped competition
will be modelled on the Champions League in the hope that some of that
competition's lustre will rub off.
SCOTTISH CUP
Scottish Cup runners-up will be denied entry into Europe under proposals
to be voted upon this week. It means an end to the likes of Queen of the
South, Gretna and Dunfermline Athletic competing in the UEFA Cup by virtue
of the fact they were beaten in the cup final by a team who were involved
in the Champions League. If approved, the new rule will be applied immediately
and the beneficiaries will be the next best placed team in the SPL who
will take a place in the UEFA Cup.
Scotland
On Sunday, 21 September 2008
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