UEFA defends 24-team European competitions

UEFA’s controversial decision to expand the European championships from 16 to 24 teams makes sense because the quality of the game is rising, its outgoing technical director Andy Roxburgh said on Wednesday. “That was the last of the eight-team tournaments. And of course everybody said at the time, ‘Oh, what will it be like now we’re doubling the numbers to 16 teams’,” he told reporters after a three-day meeting of European coaches in Warsaw. “Well, the Euro that was played in England in 1996 with 16 teams was very good. So the fears weren’t founded. And all I would say here is that we’re now going to this increased number as standards in Europe are rising all the time,” he added. “Benefits first of all to allow more teams to experience that, because they think the standards are high enough to cope with that number of teams in the final. And clearly there’s the whole packaging, the marketing,” he said.