UEFA European Championship to be increased to 24 teams

[Drogo]

Lennart Johansson,77, says he is considering to increase the the teams in the European Championship from 16 to 24 if he is re-elected as UEFA-president in January. I don't know how decisions like this are made in UEFA, if there is a vote or something? The idea of a 24-team cup was first proposed by the Scottish FA, and Johansson says he think it is a good idea and says it is financial, sporting and equitable.

What do you think of this idea? I'm not sure yet, but a 24 tournamnet will give teams that does not regulary play in tournaments a chance to play, which I think is good. I wonder how a tournamnet with 24 teams looks like, will there be 1/16 finals or quarterfinals, and how many groups and how many teams in each?

[|--LdC--|]

Lennart Johansson,77, says he is considering to increase the the teams in the European Championship from 16 to 24 if he is re-elected as UEFA-president in January. I don't know how decisions like this are made in UEFA, if there is a vote or something? The idea of a 24-team cup was first proposed by the Scottish FA, and Johansson says he think it is a good idea and says it is financial, sporting and equitable.

What do you think of this idea? I'm not sure yet, but a 24 tournamnet will give teams that does not regulary play in tournaments a chance to play, which I think is good. I wonder how a tournamnet with 24 teams looks like, will there be 1/16 finals or quarterfinals, and how many groups and how many teams in each?
I think the competition can have 24 teams and still be interesting and competitive but this would create some problems with the qualification to the last 8 or 16?!
I am in favour to give it a try in 2012.

[geego]

I wonder how a tournamnet with 24 teams looks like, will there be 1/16 finals or quarterfinals, and how many groups and how many teams in each?
Most probably the group stage will consist of 6 groups of 4 teams. Afterwards there are two choices:

a) All 6 group winners + 2 best seconds to the quarterfinals (as in the UCL around 1999)
b) Two best of each group (12 in total) + best 4 thirds to the eightfinals (as in the WC 86 to 94)

[Hartlepool]

It would water down the group stage a little but I am sure the $$$ has something to do with the idea. I wouldnt be against it. It always adds a little spice when a Shakhtar knocks off a Roma or a CSKA Moscow beats an Arsenal.


www.**********************.com

[Drogo]

It would water down the group stage a little but I am sure the $$$ has something to do with the idea. I wouldnt be against it. It always adds a little spice when a Shakhtar knocks off a Roma or a CSKA Moscow beats an Arsenal.


www.**********************.com

I think you misunderstood, this is about the tournament with National teams.

[Hrvat]

I think you misunderstood, this is about the tournament with National teams.

He didn't misunderstand.

Anyway, why not all 50 countries, I'm sure they'll figure out a playing system, as long the cash is flowing in.
Proposed by the Scottish FA, you say? Not a shock to me :rolleyes:

[lanman]

and Johansson says he think it is a good idea and says it is financial, sporting and equitable.

That is the key reason - that and that alone.

24 teams means that you have to have 3rd place teams out of groups of 4 qualifying. When the World Cup was 24 teams you had teams without a win progressing - part of the appeal of the Euros is that it is difficult to qualify and advance. This move will only bring down the standard of the competition so UEFA can make more money.

[Forza AZ]

I don't like the idea of 24 countries at Euro for 4 reasons:

1) smaller countries won't be able to be hosts for the tournament any more
2) the group stage matches are now the most interesting groupstage in the World. It will be less interesting.
3) The qualifying campaign will be much less interesting, because there is no chance a "big" country get's elimated by surprise.
4) There is no good system for 24 countries. You either have to let the best 3rd placed teams go to the 2nd round, or you have to have 2 groupstages (6 groups of 4, followed by 4 groups of 3; the WC 1982 system), or you have to have 8 groups of 3 in the first round. Neither of these systems works OK in my opinion.

[aloisius]

What a way to ruin my day.


Seriously, I want to puke right now.

You would have to have some bullshit like best 2 second placed teams going to the quarters or something like that.

It seems like they didn’t learn their lesson from the awful second group stage they had for a couple of years in the CL.

They wanted to squeeze even more money out it, but shockingly there’s only a limited amount of football that people want to watch.

They will probably scrap this after 1-2 tournaments if it ever comes into place; it’s just a shame that by then one or two Euro championships will be ruined.

[Reazzurro90]

I wouldn't care if this were tried out.

It seems like the Euro is becoming more like a mini World Cup.

[Forza AZ]

It seems like the Euro is becoming more like a mini World Cup.
It already is since 16 teams participate. It's even more fun to watch because also almost all group games are already very unpredictable. The average level is (much) higher than at the World Cup.

[dor02]

The Euro should stay a 16 teams tornament. I don't want too many minnows there.

[Drogo]

Challenger Platini says he does not want to comment upon the 24-team issue, although he says Johansson is a "loser".

[The Old Lady Hertha]

They're both losers, and both should really stfu.

[Drogo]

They're both losers, and both should really stfu.

Well, if you wanna be the new UEFA-president, you need to say something.

[PsychedelicCeltic]

Well, if you wanna be the new UEFA-president, you need to say something.
Unfortunately the one vote one federation policy means presidents have to pander to minnows, who naturally want participation.

[johan neeskens]

The Euros were at their absolute best when there were just the eight countries qualifying, two weeks of football and you were guaranteed high quality throughout. I'd reduce the number of participants rather than increase.

[leg_breaker]

That would mean more extensive qualifying, which probably isn't a good thing. I think the current format is well balanced. It's over with quickly and the games are all pretty even and intense. There are top-level clashes from day one, bringing in eight more teams just means more dull matches.

[E17Avenue]

Unfortunately the one vote one federation policy means presidents have to pander to minnows, who naturally want participation.

Participation:

1) Improve
2) Qualify

Sorry, jocko, you're not getting in this way. Why don't we make it like the NHL playoffs and allow 32 nations in, just kicking out the San Marinos and Liechtensteins over the two years of qualifying?

[leg_breaker]

Another problem with having more teams in, is that Uefa only has 52 countries, so 24 teams would be nearly half. Qualifying groups would be far less interesting and dangerous if you could lose countless matches and still qualify comfortably.