UEFA Nations League starts from 2018-19 season.

[greatpersian]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...s-backing.html

[Zamboor]

this is great. friendlies are so BORING! THIS JUST MAKES EVERYTHING A COMPETITON YES YES YSS

[GoIran]

Hmmmm, I have mixed feelings. It's an interesting idea and you never really know how it will turn out unless you give it a try. I just hope it doesn't devalue the World Cup and European Championships.

[EKBATAN]

interesting idea, but i do have mixed feelings too. players are very over worked as it is. they hardly have any breaks all year. between the leagues ending and world cup is barely 1 month. which means they get only like a week off then off to camp. then after world cup maybe few weeks break then seasons start....during seasons you have domestic cups, champions league and international friendlies. it takes a huge toll on the players. many times for euro cup or world cups the players are already tired and therefore dont perform 100% at times. so unless they have a good plan for this it'll work.

[KC McElroy]

I am God.

http://www.persianfootball.com/forum...ision-I-and-II

[persianfire]

It could be the "real" European Championship. The league format is the best way to determine the best team.

[Zamboor]

this will replace friendlies guys, not more games will be added on than there is! this is perfect

[Love TM]

[persianfire]

http://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html

UEFA Nations League: all you need to know

What is it? How will it work? What is it trying to achieve and why does UEFA believe that it will improve the quality and standing of national team football? Find out here.

What is the background to the UEFA Nations League?

UEFA is an association of associations and continually discusses and reviews both club and national team competitions with its members.

So the rejuvenation of national team football and the UEFA Nations League stems from the desire of UEFA, and especially the UEFA President, to improve the quality and the standing of national team football. There is also the desire from the associations for more sporting meaning in national team football, with associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches are not providing adequate competition for national teams.

Extensive consultation and discussions started as far back as the 2011 Strategy Meeting in Cyprus and continued at a series of Top Executive Programme (TEP) meetings over the past three years, namely: the UEFA general secretaries meeting in Stockholm in 2013, the UEFA Strategy Meeting in Dubrovnik in 2014, several meetings of the UEFA National Team Competitions Committee and most recently a series of follow-up regional TEP meetings across Europe.

What is the basic format?

In the UEFA Nations League, the 54 member associations will be divided into four groups based on coefficient rankings. These groups will then be further divided into playing pools of either three or four teams. The teams in each pool play each other home and away between September and December of the season in question, with the group winners either qualifying for the final four competitions or gaining promotion. The bottom sides face relegation from their division.

In addition, the UEFA Nations League will provide teams with another chance to qualify for the UEFA EURO final tournament. Four teams within each group, who have not already qualified for the finals, will qualify for play-offs in March 2020 with one team from each group joining the 20 teams who had qualified via the European Qualifiers.

What are the next steps?

Following the acceptance of the resolution on national team football at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014, UEFA and its member associations will continue to work together to elaborate and implement the UEFA Nations League. It is envisaged that the first UEFA Nations League matches would take place in September 2018.

What are the advantages for national associations and teams?

National associations and coaches in consultations with UEFA revealed that they feel that friendly internationals are not providing adequate sporting competition. The UEFA Nations League creates more meaningful and competitive matches for teams.

Top teams can also aspire to take part in the final four competitions, a new top-level event.

For middle-ranking and small nations, the UEFA Nations League will provide an extra way to qualify for UEFA EURO final tournaments. Lower-tier nations − the bottom 16 in rankings − are now guaranteed one of the 24 qualifying slots for UEFA EURO.

While the UEFA Nations League will replace most friendly internationals, there will still be space in the calendar for friendlies, especially for top teams who may want to play teams from outside Europe as they will be in groups of three teams.

Associations and teams benefit from clarity of the fixture calendar, and there is now a clear buffer between the end of UEFA EURO and FIFA World Cup, and vice-versa, and stability of income.

What are the advantages for supporters?

Supporters more than most realise that most friendlies fail to provide competitive and meaningful football. Now they will get the chance to see their teams play in more competitive matches, take part in a new competition and get a second chance to qualify for the major tournaments.

In every even year there are FIFA World Cup or UEFA EURO winners; now in every odd year there will be a UEFA Nations League champion.

Will this mean more demands on players and clubs?

No; the UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers will adhere to the existing agreed international match calendar. UEFA is always keen to preserve the balance between club and international football. The new competition should, in fact, reduce demands on players and clubs with less travel envisaged for friendly matches while national teams will be playing more consistently at their own level. With double-header matchweeks, players will even go back to their clubs earlier than is currently the case.

Is this just about generating more revenue?

No, finances are not a driver for the new competition. However, the competition will have the same centralised media rights as have recently been introduced for all European Qualifiers so associations will have even more stability in their income.

Will there be no more friendly internationals?

There will certainly be fewer friendly internationals and undoubtedly fewer meaningless friendlies. However, there will still be space in the calendar for friendly internationals − particularly warm-up matches for final tournaments. UEFA is also keen that European teams will still have the chance to play teams from other confederations.

[KC McElroy]

This pretty much kills most friendlies between Europeans and non Europeans.

[Kiarash]

This takes away the joy of a big tournament like a World Cup if you have a tournament like the ''Nations League'' every summer..

[Nokhodi]

Idiotic UEFA.
This makes Euro Cup less exciting, it will conflict with Confederations Cup and will piss of clubs even more.
Plus non-European teams will have a very difficult time getting friendlies.

[Team Melli Fan]

I don't like this. Less friendlies between international teams & less prestige for the UEFA Euro Cup. Only bright side is the league version might be interesting.

[persepolisfan]

Will be cancelled, I'm sure of it. It is gonna have it's major critics soon enough.