Sports / Feature and Column
UEFA may flirt with idea of 24-team Euro champs
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-01-19 17:39
LONDON, Jan 19 - One issue at the heart of the game is almost guaranteed
to unite everyone in soccer no matter which club or national team they
support.
From FIFA president Sepp Blatter downwards, the general consensus is that
there is too much soccer being played -- every day, every week, every
month, every year.
Blatter has repeatedly called for the top division of every major soccer
league to comprise no more than 16 teams.
Managers, meanwhile, continually complain that their players do not get
enough rest or recovery time between matches.
The players increasingly moan about fatigue and career-threatening stress
injuries brought about by playing too many games.
Many committed fans are unable to afford tickets or give up the time
needed to go to all the matches they would like to see.
But despite all this, UEFA are about to discuss whether to agree a
proposal to conduct a feasibility study into increasing the size of the
European Championship from 16 to 24 teams.
The issue is on the agenda at next week's UEFA Congress in Duesseldorf
and, at this stage, the expansion of the tournament is not a foregone
conclusion.
But if the proposal is accepted and a study provides welcoming answers,
then either the 2012 or 2016 European Championship could be made up of 24
finalists rather than 16.
BIDS SUBMITTED
One immediate problem facing UEFA is that the candidates to host the 2012
finals long ago submitted their bids based on a 16-team finals.
Italy, who hosted a four-team Euro finals in 1968 and an eight-team event
in 1980, is one contender to stage the 2012 Championship and there are
also joint bids from Poland-Ukraine and Croatia-Hungary.
The decision will be taken in Cardiff on April 18 and while Italy could
easily cope with a 24-team tournament, as when they hosted the 24-team
World Cup in 1990, there are no guarantees the joint bidders could handle
double the number of teams.
One intriguing aspect of any feasibility study is whose opinion UEFA will
canvass.
As the World Cups of 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994 proved, a 24-team format
does not lend itself easily to a knockout tournament.
Sixteen or 32-team tournaments work on a far simpler principle than a
24-team event with the top two in each group reaching the knockout stage
of the competition.
CONTRIVED RESULTS
However, 24 teams are far harder to whittle down with the number of
matches and time restraints having a huge bearing on the format of the
competition.
Adjusting the rules to establish who goes through to the next round can
also produce contrived results.
This happened in the infamous 1982 World Cup group match in Gijon, Spain
between West Germany and Austria when a 1-0 victory to the Germans would
ensure that both they and the Austrians advanced at the expense of
Algeria.
Horst Hrubesch scored for Germany after 10 minutes and neither team had a
meaningful shot for the rest of the game.
Although a 24-team tournament would increase the number of matches and
the demands on the players accordingly, UEFA may have a brilliant hidden
agenda in their planning department.
Europe's governing body has 52 member associations -- just under half of
whom could take part in a 24-team finals.
It would be very simple for UEFA to abandon long-drawn out qualifying
groups and, after eliminating four teams, pitch the remaining 48
countries against each other.
They could play home and away legs with the aggregate winner going
through to the finals.
At a stroke, UEFA could cut hundreds of matches, have a finals every year
and earn vast amounts of television money.
The fact no-one would be remotely interested in the competition would no
doubt be counter-productive but it would certainly guarantee less soccer,
fewer matches for the players and less pressure on the wallets of
beleaguered fans.
The game awaits UEFA's decision with bated breath.
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