26 Sep 2008Euros to be expanded

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

Uefa has announced today (September 26th) that the European Football Championships will be expanded from 16 teams to 24 from the 2016 competition onwards.

A 13-strong executive committee from European football's governing body met to discuss the initiative and every single one voted in favour of the change.

The move will see the tournament structure modified for the first time since 1996 and will improve competitiveness, Uefa claimed in a statement released today.

One section read: "This historic decision gives middle-ranked countries a much greater chance to qualify for the final tournament.

"The traditional qualifying format, with groups of six and five teams, will remain in place."

The change was originally mooted at an informal meeting between the presidents of the 53 federations which make up Uefa and its president Michel Platini before the Euro 2008 final in June.

Apart from allowing less heralded teams to qualify, the most significant consequence will perhaps be the increase to 51 matches from 31 and the duration of the tournament changing from three weeks to four.

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