UEFA Executive Committee: New competition structures finalised.
The UEFA Executive Committee has decided that from the 1999/2000 season, matches in the UEFA Champions League will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The decision came at its meeting on Thursday, 22 April, the first ever to be held in Tel-Aviv (Israel).
UEFA Cup matches will take place on Thursdays, although the Executive Committee decided that countries with three or more representatives in the competition could switch matches to Tuesday, provided that the games kick-off at 18.00 hours CET or earlier. No UEFA Cup matches will be played on Wednesday evenings, to prevent any conflict with coverage of UEFA Champions League matches on terrestrial television.
It was also decided that the procedure for the seeding of clubs in the two main UEFA club competitions should be changed from next season. Seeding is currently based on the coefficient of a club's respective national association. However, from the 1999/2000 season, the seeding will be based on the club's individual coefficient in UEFA competitions over the preceding five years, as well as half the national coefficient. A 50% weighting of the national coefficient has been retained, in order to ensure that clubs who represent a strong European league, but who have not qualified for UEFA competition for five seasons, would still enter the competitions at an advanced stage. In addition, for the qualifying phases of the two club competitions, it was decided that only half-points will be awarded for matches. Therefore, teams who win a match in this phase will receive one point for a win (as opposed to the present two), while a half-point will be awarded for a draw (as opposed to one point as at present).
Two changes were made in the disciplinary regulations for both club competitions. From next season, players who receive three yellow cards will be suspended for one match, rather than the two yellow-card suspension rule that currently applies. However, players who receive a fifth, seventh and ninth booking will automatically receive a one-match ban. No yellow cards issued throughout a competition will be deleted from a player's record. This is because all pending sanctions were annulled at the quarter-final stage of the 1998/99 season.
From the 2000/01 season, if the winner of a national association's cup competition has qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the losing finalist will enter the UEFA Cup. However, if both teams involved in an association's domestic cup final have also qualified for the UEFA Champions League, then no representative will go through from the domestic cup to the UEFA Cup.
The ongoing situation in the Balkan region was also a topic for discussion, and the Executive Committee decided that the Task Force would be given three weeks to prepare a plan, in the event that matches cannot be played in the region because the security of teams and supporters is not guaranteed. It is UEFA's intention to find a solution, to ensure that the matches can be played.
The FIFA World Club Championship, the inaugural competition of which will be held in January 2000, also came up for discussion, and UEFA has decided that Europe will be represented at the event, although there is no guarantee that the winners of the UEFA Champions League would be the European representative. It would instead be up to the club in question to decide whether or not it would participate.
The UEFA Executive Committee also decided to continue with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, as it is viewed as another expression of UEFA's solidarity principle. On the one hand, the competition gives larger clubs who fail to qualify for the major club competitions through their domestic leagues and cup a chance to gain the valuable experience which is unique to European competition. UEFA's summer club competition does not attract much media attention, as it takes place during close-season break, and therefore does not generate large financial support. However, it serves the needs of the various pools companies throughout Europe. The Executive Committee believes that the spirit of the competition should remain intact, although UEFA will now approach the European Football Pool - the regulatory body of the various pools companies - to re-negotiate the financial terms of the competition, in order to secure a larger financial contribution.
The UEFA Cup final between Parma AC and Olympique de Marseille will be staged in Moscow on Wednesday, 12 May 1999, as originally decided by the Executive Committee during its meeting in Lisbon last October. A letter had been received by UEFA from Olympique de Marseille expressing their concern at the current political situation in Europe. However, the Lord Mayor of Moscow reassured the UEFA Executive Committee that the city would be capable of staging the event without incident.
UEFA Cup matches will take place on Thursdays, although the Executive Committee decided that countries with three or more representatives in the competition could switch matches to Tuesday, provided that the games kick-off at 18.00 hours CET or earlier. No UEFA Cup matches will be played on Wednesday evenings, to prevent any conflict with coverage of UEFA Champions League matches on terrestrial television.
It was also decided that the procedure for the seeding of clubs in the two main UEFA club competitions should be changed from next season. Seeding is currently based on the coefficient of a club's respective national association. However, from the 1999/2000 season, the seeding will be based on the club's individual coefficient in UEFA competitions over the preceding five years, as well as half the national coefficient. A 50% weighting of the national coefficient has been retained, in order to ensure that clubs who represent a strong European league, but who have not qualified for UEFA competition for five seasons, would still enter the competitions at an advanced stage. In addition, for the qualifying phases of the two club competitions, it was decided that only half-points will be awarded for matches. Therefore, teams who win a match in this phase will receive one point for a win (as opposed to the present two), while a half-point will be awarded for a draw (as opposed to one point as at present).
Two changes were made in the disciplinary regulations for both club competitions. From next season, players who receive three yellow cards will be suspended for one match, rather than the two yellow-card suspension rule that currently applies. However, players who receive a fifth, seventh and ninth booking will automatically receive a one-match ban. No yellow cards issued throughout a competition will be deleted from a player's record. This is because all pending sanctions were annulled at the quarter-final stage of the 1998/99 season.
From the 2000/01 season, if the winner of a national association's cup competition has qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the losing finalist will enter the UEFA Cup. However, if both teams involved in an association's domestic cup final have also qualified for the UEFA Champions League, then no representative will go through from the domestic cup to the UEFA Cup.
The ongoing situation in the Balkan region was also a topic for discussion, and the Executive Committee decided that the Task Force would be given three weeks to prepare a plan, in the event that matches cannot be played in the region because the security of teams and supporters is not guaranteed. It is UEFA's intention to find a solution, to ensure that the matches can be played.
The FIFA World Club Championship, the inaugural competition of which will be held in January 2000, also came up for discussion, and UEFA has decided that Europe will be represented at the event, although there is no guarantee that the winners of the UEFA Champions League would be the European representative. It would instead be up to the club in question to decide whether or not it would participate.
The UEFA Executive Committee also decided to continue with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, as it is viewed as another expression of UEFA's solidarity principle. On the one hand, the competition gives larger clubs who fail to qualify for the major club competitions through their domestic leagues and cup a chance to gain the valuable experience which is unique to European competition. UEFA's summer club competition does not attract much media attention, as it takes place during close-season break, and therefore does not generate large financial support. However, it serves the needs of the various pools companies throughout Europe. The Executive Committee believes that the spirit of the competition should remain intact, although UEFA will now approach the European Football Pool - the regulatory body of the various pools companies - to re-negotiate the financial terms of the competition, in order to secure a larger financial contribution.
The UEFA Cup final between Parma AC and Olympique de Marseille will be staged in Moscow on Wednesday, 12 May 1999, as originally decided by the Executive Committee during its meeting in Lisbon last October. A letter had been received by UEFA from Olympique de Marseille expressing their concern at the current political situation in Europe. However, the Lord Mayor of Moscow reassured the UEFA Executive Committee that the city would be capable of staging the event without incident.