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UEFA announce new schedule for Euro qualifiers


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International qualifiers will be played across six days between Thursdays and Tuesdays from 2014 to maximise TV coverage and broadcast income, UEFA have announced.

The move will see national teams having just a two-day break between matches in World Cup and European Championship double-headers, in what is being dubbed The Week of Football.

Teams will play either Thursdays and Sundays, Fridays and Mondays, or Saturdays and Tuesdays. Most double-headers are currently being played on Fridays and Tuesdays - leaving the weekends without football.

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told the Leaders in Football conference in London: "You can play every three days - it's what happening in club football all year long so that's not a problem.

"This has been unanimously supported by all 53 national associations.

"If we leave the weekend to other sports then in the medium and long-term it will be damaging."

The move coincides with UEFA selling TV rights collectively across Europe and providing national associations with guaranteed income.

Infantino said there would be no clash with the clubs - and that there would in fact be fewer international breaks overall.

He added: "This is an important step to promote national team football and the whole of football will benefit.

"It is within the framework of the international football calendar, so no additional dates will be required whatsoever.

"If you do not have national teams playing on Saturdays and Sundays then it's a pity. If England are playing on a Friday then fans can watch Spain, France or Germany at the weekends."

Infantino said there would also be a proposal to lose the August friendly date, and combine the November and March friendly dates into one double-header.

UEFA announce new schedule for Euro qualifiers

So what do we think of this?

Sounds good to me.

I guess in theory you could watch something like:

Thursday - Spain

Friday - England

Saturday - Italy

Sunday - Germany

Monday - France (or England again)

Tuesday - Holland

I wonder if Sky will buy the rights to the other big nations' games and show them in a Champions League style format?

What we also need is a Match of the Day for International Football...

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this is a terrible idea. Its better the way it is with block games. Neutrals dont really want to watch Lithuania vs Spain, Andorra vs Germany etc.

Cant see club teams being too happy either

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its window dressing from the governing bodies again

the current system of qualifying doesnt work because there are far too many shit games, they chop and change the tv and the days the games are played on in an attempt to inject excitement whilst at the same time not actually doing anything about the real problems

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I've kind of wondered, why have a quadrennial European championship?

Why not divide European countries into, say, three divisions, and play a league format to determine a European championship over the course of three years, with the table after each three year cycle determining World Cup qualification? England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, etc. playing each other twice every three years is television gold.

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Why not divide European countries into, say, three divisions, and play a league format to determine a European championship over the course of three years, with the table after each three year cycle determining World Cup qualification? England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, etc. playing each other twice every three years is television gold.

because only the teams in top division could qualify for World Cup and wouldnt be fair on other nations as Europe only gets 14 spots maximum

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Why not divide European countries into, say, three divisions, and play a league format to determine a European championship over the course of three years, with the table after each three year cycle determining World Cup qualification? England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, etc. playing each other twice every three years is television gold.

because only the teams in top division could qualify for World Cup and wouldnt be fair on other nations as Europe only gets 14 spots maximum

You could make it something like 10 from the top division, top 3 from the second division, and winner of the third division get in....

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