UEFA announced today the launch of their League of Nations tournament, putting an end to the majority of unwanted friendlies.
Michel Platini, the UEFA president, described it as a “big step” as plans were outlined for the tournament which will kick off in late 2018.
The 54 European member countries of UEFA will be split into four divisions, with England set to be in a top league of 12 to 16 teams along with Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Holland.
The new tournament will be played every two years on the dates currently reserved for friendlies, building up to a final in the June of odd-numbered years.
Each country will play two or three other nations in their division home and away with the winner of each mini-league going to a climax of semi-finals and final at a neutral venue.
The winner of each division will qualify for Euro 2020 but there will be some friendly dates kept to allow countries to play preparation games before major tournaments.
The competition was announced here at the UEFA Congress in Kazakhstan, where Platini said: “The friendlies don’t really interest anybody — neither the fans nor the players nor the media and nor the national associations. This is a good decision because nobody wants these friendlies.”
Football Association general secretary Alex Horne said his organisation were delighted by the “exciting development”.
“The prospect of England playing three or four teams from the best 12 or 16 countries in Europe on a home and away basis should be very exciting,” said Horne.
“It means we will go from a major tournament such as a World Cup straight into a set of three international double-headers between September and November that will really mean something.
“There will be the threat of relegation too so there will really be something at stake.”
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It is expected that TV rights income will be organised in a similar way to the Champions League, with half the money distributed on the basis of the value of each country’s TV rights and half on a more equal basis via participation payments and match bonuses.
The new competition will cause considerable change to the international calendar however, and one effect could see the final places for qualification for Euro 2020 not decided until the March, just three months before the tournament.
The timing of the Nations League could conflict with proposals to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter, however.
Platini added: “I think we will adapt ourselves — the World Cup is the priority. I don’t know when it will take place in 2022 but we will organise this with respect to those dates.”
