Championships set to expand

Uefa members look to 2016 increase

Last updated: 28th June 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Championships set to expand

European Championships: Expansion plan

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The European Championships are on course to be expanded from 16 to 24 teams after Uefa's 53 member countries gave the proposal universal support.

The executive committee of European football's governing body will make a final decision in September, but there was no opposition to the plan when it was raised at a meeting of association presidents and general secretaries in Vienna.

The change would come into force for Euro 2016 and was originally put forward by the Scottish FA last year.

Appetite

SFA chief executive Gordon Smith was delighted by the response, saying "It's something Uefa have seen no real disadvantage to.

"It will only mean a few extra days of the tournament and there is no down side in terms of loss of revenue.

"The feeling in the meeting was everyone else was in favour as well. There's an appetite for it, everyone appreciated the advantages and no one spoke against it.

"It will make the qualifying competition more attractive as more teams come into the mix and that will keep the group alive longer.

"We just missed out for this tournament behind Italy and France but under the proposed new regulations we would have qualified."

An Italian Football Federation spokesman said: "It was 100 per cent, it will happen for 2016 and it will boost the smaller nations."