UEFA announce plans for 'Nations League'

bohsfan

It looks like UEFA are planning on bringing in a Nations League to run alongside its current qualifying competitions.

The aim of it is to replace 'meaningless' friendlies with games against teams of a similar caliber with qualifying spots for the Euros or WC on offer.

From BBC.co.uk: Link

A "League of Nations" that will see countries qualify for the World Cup and European Championship is expected to be given the go-ahead by Uefa on Thursday.

Games would be played in odd-numbered years on dates reserved for friendlies, starting after the 2018 World Cup.

No exact details have been confirmed, but there would be up to four divisions with promotion and relegation, plus a 'final four' competition in the summer.

European football's governing body's executive committee has already backed the competition, which would replace major tournament qualifying play-offs.

What think you all? Seems like a good alternative to silly friendlies to me, all dependent on the format of course.

iDave

I'll give a cautious thumbs up.
Will the top 2 in Euro groups still be automatically qualified. Who and How do you qualify via this route?
Wont miss the friendlies but I will miss the chance to play non-European team

ArmaniJeanss

Devil in the detail really, hardly seems worth debating until they release some information and we can see what it means for everyone. Especially us.

Kerrydude1981

Platini and the lads at UEFA must be after playing Actua Soccer 2.

Be interesting to see if it does go ahead.

bohsfan

iDave wrote: »

I'll give a cautious thumbs up.
Will the top 2 in Euro groups still be automatically qualified. Who and How do you qualify via this route?
Wont miss the friendlies but I will miss the chance to play non-European team

While the details haven't been agreed it would seem that the qualification spots usually allocated through play offs would run through this competition instead.

They are seeking general approval for the competition tomorrow, with the details and format to be worked out afterwards.

It will be interesting to see what proposals come out of it

mike65

and how did World War Two start everyone?

OwaynOTT

mike65 wrote: »

and how did World War Two start everyone?

I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.

The_B_Man

Sure theres friendlies and then qualifiers every year. Does that mean that it'll change to having qualifiers and league matches, with places in the finals up for grabs through both methods?
Say if Germany or Spain qualified through the league games, then whoever finished second or 3rd in their group would go through to the finals or playoffs. That would then make it favourable for a team to be drawn against one of the bigger teams.

I'd defo be interested in seeing the details of this when they're decided. I don't think it makes sense to run 2 parallel routes to qualification.

jester77

So does this mean we won't ever see games against non-EU teams except at the world cup? That would suck.

OwaynOTT

jester77 wrote: »

So does this mean we won't ever see games against non-EU teams except at the world cup? That would suck.

Would make the World Cup all the more special.

adamski8

jester77 wrote: »

So does this mean we won't ever see games against non-EU teams except at the world cup? That would suck.

Yeah because everyone salivates at those juicy friendlies

adamski8

jester77 wrote: »

So does this mean we won't ever see games against non-EU teams except at the world cup? That would suck.

Yeah because everyone salivates at those juicy friendlies

gimli2112

It's hard to look at anything UEFA/FIFA do without raging skepticism

Eight Ball

gimli2112 wrote: »

It's hard to look at anything UEFA/FIFA do without raging skepticism

Why?

gimli2112

Eight Ball wrote: »

Why?

They appear to be corrupt (allegedly) eg. awarding the WC to Qatar for lots of money. They're certainly self - serving, see the ticket allocation for Champions League Finals for example and most importantly I don't like international football but that's a personal opinion.

titan18

From the article, it says that

Winners of the lower divisions could be granted entry to the European Championship, so it wouldn't be Spain,Germany etc, maybe not even the 2nd tier, would just be the last few teams

and it also says

While matches will be played on dates reserved for friendlies, there will still be flexibility for smaller countries to arrange high-profile fixtures with bigger European teams and for nations to play friendlies against national sides from outside Europe.

So assuming, that one set of friendly dates will be left open for other games.

The Lost Sheep

So basically it gives the middle tier of 10-15 countries a second bite of cherry and gives much more meaning to the friendlies.
Great for FAI as it makes selling tickets for friendlies easier as crowds more likely to go if game is part of way to get qualification for euros.

speedboatchase

gimli2112 wrote: »

It's hard to look at anything UEFA/FIFA do without raging skepticism

Nah, I love the Euro 2020 pan-European hosting idea.

nbar12

Could be a good way to introduce some promising LOI players to European football which would hopefully improve Irish football as a whole in the future

The Rooster

nbar12 wrote: »

Could be a good way to introduce some promising LOI players to European football which would hopefully improve Irish football as a whole in the future

If "promising LOI players" don't get a look in for meaningless friendlies, they've even less chance of getting a call up for a European divisional yokie.

Brussels Sprout

The one thing I don't really understand is how you can have a team from lower down the order qualify for the Euro finals and not have it devalue those finals.

Skid X

It seems very messy, and it's hard to see how UEFA can effectively have two distinct European Championships Qualification streams. I expect that will be dropped before this new project is finalised.

iDave

Heres what UEFA have to say

http://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html#uefa+nations+league+need+know

What is the background to the UEFA Nations League?
UEFA is an association of associations and continually discusses and reviews both club and national team competitions with its members.

So the rejuvenation of national team football and the UEFA Nations League stems from the desire of UEFA, and especially the UEFA President, to improve the quality and the standing of national team football. There is also the desire from the associations for more sporting meaning in national team football, with associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches are not providing adequate competition for national teams.

Extensive consultation and discussions started as far back as the 2011 Strategy Meeting in Cyprus and continued at a series of Top Executive Programme (TEP) meetings over the past three years, namely: the UEFA general secretaries meeting in Stockholm in 2013, the UEFA Strategy Meeting in Dubrovnik in 2014, several meetings of the UEFA National Team Competitions Committee and most recently a series of follow-up regional TEP meetings across Europe.

What is the basic format?

In the UEFA Nations League, the 54 member associations will be divided into four groups based on coefficient rankings. These groups will then be further divided into playing pools of either three or four teams. The teams in each pool play each other home and away between September and December of the season in question, with the group winners either qualifying for the final four competitions or gaining promotion. The bottom sides face relegation from their division.

In addition, the UEFA Nations League will provide teams with another chance to qualify for the UEFA EURO final tournament. Four teams within each group, who have not already qualified for the finals, will qualify for play-offs in March 2020 with one team from each group joining the 20 teams who had qualified via the European Qualifiers.

What are the next steps?

Following the acceptance of the resolution on national team football at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014, UEFA and its member associations will continue to work together to elaborate and implement the UEFA Nations League. It is envisaged that the first UEFA Nations League matches would take place in September 2018.

What are the advantages for national associations and teams?

National associations and coaches in consultations with UEFA revealed that they feel that friendly internationals are not providing adequate sporting competition. The UEFA Nations League creates more meaningful and competitive matches for teams.

Top teams can also aspire to take part in the final four competitions, a new top-level event.

For middle-ranking and small nations, the UEFA Nations League will provide an extra way to qualify for UEFA EURO final tournaments. Lower-tier nations − the bottom 16 in rankings − are now guaranteed one of the 24 qualifying slots for UEFA EURO.

While the UEFA Nations League will replace most friendly internationals, there will still be space in the calendar for friendlies, especially for top teams who may want to play teams from outside Europe as they will be in groups of three teams.

Associations and teams benefit from clarity of the fixture calendar, and there is now a clear buffer between the end of UEFA EURO and FIFA World Cup, and vice-versa, and stability of income.

What are the advantages for supporters?

Supporters more than most realise that most friendlies fail to provide competitive and meaningful football. Now they will get the chance to see their teams play in more competitive matches, take part in a new competition and get a second chance to qualify for the major tournaments.

In every even year there are FIFA World Cup or UEFA EURO winners; now in every odd year there will be a UEFA Nations League champion.

Will this mean more demands on players and clubs?

No; the UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers will adhere to the existing agreed international match calendar. UEFA is always keen to preserve the balance between club and international football. The new competition should, in fact, reduce demands on players and clubs with less travel envisaged for friendly matches while national teams will be playing more consistently at their own level. With double-header matchweeks, players will even go back to their clubs earlier than is currently the case.

Is this just about generating more revenue?

No, finances are not a driver for the new competition. However, the competition will have the same centralised media rights as have recently been introduced for all European Qualifiers so associations will have even more stability in their income.

Will there be no more friendly internationals?

There will certainly be fewer friendly internationals and undoubtedly fewer meaningless friendlies. However, there will still be space in the calendar for friendly internationals − particularly warm-up matches for final tournaments. UEFA is also keen that European teams will still have the chance to play teams from other confederations.

Kerrydude1981

Just looking at the coefficients for this season,if the league started this year would we be in Division 4?


http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html


Hopefully by the time it comes around we will be in Division 2.

K-9

Qualification for the Europeans is becoming a bit of a joke at this stage. It seems like they've gone from it being a very difficult competition to qualify for to a near "one for everybody in the audience" competition!

I suppose it's an other way to qualify if you miss out in the qualifiers, 4 teams will get in by this route including 1 of the bottom 16 teams.

ArmaniJeanss

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Just looking at the coefficients for this season,if the league started this year would we be in Division 4?


http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html


Hopefully by the time it comes around we will be in Division 2.

They look like the National League coefficients (deciding how many places you get in CL/EL) rather than the National Team coefficients in which we are higher.

Hazys

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Just looking at the coefficients for this season,if the league started this year would we be in Division 4?


http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html


Hopefully by the time it comes around we will be in Division 2.

Why would they use the coefficients ranking? That is for the strength of club leagues by country.

Surely it would be FIFA World national team rankings http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/

Although we are not doing much better in that, historically we have always been higher.

Mr.Nice Guy

Guess this means there won't be any more Nations Cup tournaments.





We retain our prestigious crown!

legendary.xix

I think in my opinion they should look away from group format. I've suggested in football discussions before that a nations league should come in. I don't know if many are aware of the Davis Cup format but I think that type would work best.

Have a top European League of 8. Games should be two-legged knock-out format. The winners of 4 games advance to semi-finals and then final in neutral venue.
4 losers of first round play relegation play-off with two losers relegated.
The second tier should have 2 groups of 8, east and west europe, with the 2 winners promoted to the top group of 8. 4 teams, 2 from each, demoted to the tier below.
The third tier should have 4 groups of 7 or 8 teams. 4 group champions promoted.

bren2001

Hazys wrote: »

Why would they use the coefficients ranking? That is for the strength of club leagues by country.

Surely it would be FIFA World national team rankings http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/

Although we are not doing much better in that, historically we have always been higher.

Uefa do not use the Fifa World Rankings as they are a joke. They use their own system, UEFA International Team Coefficient Ranking System. It is updated every 2 years; done for allocating teams to pots for qualification and then done again for the groups in the competition.

If it was run today we would be in the second division.

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/04/77/16/2047716_DOWNLOAD.pdf

I think it is a good idea. Gives the smaller nations something to play for. When teams slip in the rankings it gives them a good chance of qualifying for the Euros and getting their ranking back up. Once it is not used for WC qualification, I'm happy.

DB74

Had a look at this today and one thing stands out for me.

Ultimately what the competition means is that if teams don't qualify for the EUROs by the traditional route then they have a 2nd bite of the cherry via this Nations League route. Now the way the 2nd bite works is that 4 teams from each division who haven't already qualified for the finals go into a Playoff format with the winner of each Playoff getting a place in the EUROs. So far so good.

BUT ... if less than 4 teams from any division have already qualified then the Playoff places will be filled by the next best unqualified teams from the next division

SO ... suppose England don't qualify via the traditional route AND they are the only Division 1 team not to qualify for the finals. In addition suppose Ireland are the only Div 2 team not qualified for the finals via the traditional route. Normal logic would dictate that England therefore get the Div 1 spot and Ireland get the Div 2 spot for the finals.

However, reading the way it's currently set out, One set of Playoffs now become England, Ireland, & the 2 best non-qualifiers from Div 3. The next set of Playoffs become 3rd-6th placed Div 3 teams with the next set containing 7th-10th placed Div 3 teams which means that it is highly probable that 2 Div 3 teams will qualify for the finals while only 1 of England, Ireland will qualify.

Seems crazy to me or am I reading this wrong.

ArmaniJeanss

Confirmed now, with details.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2191264.html