By Andrew Warshaw
March 4 – UEFA are reportedly set to discuss the idea of a new so-called ‘Nations League’ competition, dividing its 54 members into a number of divisions offering club-style promotion and relegation.
According to unconfirmed reports, the concept would see UEFA using dates for friendlies in the international calendar from 2018 to launch the new league which will apparently be debated more fully at the upcoming UEFA Congress in Kazakhstan.
The discussions are taking place amid concern that the qualifying campaign for the expanded 2016 European Championships finals – and the 24-nation finals themselves – will reduce the quality of competition.
Several formats have been proposed for the proposed new league, including a top division of 12 countries, split into four groups of three to provide semi-finalists in years outside of major championships.
Last weekend, on the fringes of the International FA Board meeting in Zurich, English FA chairman Greg Dyke gave a cautious welcome to the idea.
“In principle, we’d be quite interested,” he said. “The hard thing about that is the detail but I think a Nations League where we played the top nations would be very attractive.”
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