Uefa Maintains Euro 2016 Expansion Stance
UEFA has reiterated its claim that expansion of the European Championship will not lead to the deterioration of quality, adding that the empty seats witnessed at Euro 2012 have been caused by a combination of the exit of the host nations and the global economic downturn.
The next edition of the Europion Championship, France 2016, is set to feature 24 teams for the first time – leading to fears that extra teams could result in lower quality football being displayed.
Poland and Ukraine’s staging of Euro 2012 marks the final edition of the event in its current 16-team format, with France set to stage an expanded tournament in four years’ time. German Football Association (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach expressed his misgivings about the expansion shortly before the start of Euro 2012 and his feelings have been shared by many.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Euro 2012 tournament director Martin Kallen said: ‘At the moment we have the best teams here, but there are also great teams who are not, he said according to Reuters.
‘The Scots are also not here – they bring a lot of emotions, a lot of atmosphere with them. We need to see how 2016 will be. For sure this tournament will be more and more looked at because more nations can participate.’
Euro 2012 has seen both Poland and Ukraine fail to make it past the group stages.
