New UEFA decisions! The name of the European Conference League has been changed and the final place has been announced
The UEFA Executive Committee met at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
In the statement made after the meeting, it was noted that the name of the UEFA European Conference League was changed to “UEFA Conference League” starting with the 2024-25 season.
UEFA decided that in the third cup of European football, next season’s final will be played at the OPAP Arena in Athens, the capital of Greece, and the 2025 final will be played at the Wroclaw City Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland.
UEFA, which awarded the 2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League final to the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, has determined Poland to host the 2025 European Under-19 Women’s Championship.
EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP
The European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will once again consist of the group stage and play-offs.
The group stage in league format will be played between March and November 2025 in 12 groups. The group leaders will directly receive the ticket for the World Cup.
The number of teams that will compete in the play-offs has increased from 12 to 16. In addition to the 12 teams that finished their groups in second place, the four teams that did not enter the top two of the groups and had the best ranking in the UEFA Nations League will participate in the play-offs.
In the play-off matches to be played in March 2026, the semifinals and the final will be a single match.
THE TRANSFER FEE CAN BE SPREADED UP TO 5 YEARS
UEFA decided that the transfer fee for a football player within the scope of financial fair play should be extended to a maximum of 5 years, even if the contract is longer.
The decision will take effect from July 1 and will not affect previous long-term contracts.
The Executive Board will hold its next meeting on September 26 in the Russian part of Southern Cyprus. (AA)