THERE is little doubt that international football has lost some of its lustre of late.
Sure, the World Cup and European Championships can still draw a crowd but qualifying ties or friendlies do not get fans in a froth the way the Champions League and other club competitions tend to. To that end, UEFA are considering scrapping international friendlies and replacing them with a new Nations League tournament.
Details are sketchy, but the plan is to divide the 54 European nations into nine groups of six based on rankings, and allow them to compete on the international dates not set aside for qualifying ties. Those in groups two to nine will compete for promotion, while the winner of group one will earn a financial prize, a pat on the back, and the collective respect of all their European rivals.
UEFA, under president Michel Platini, could never be accused of a lack of imagination - for example, the decision to hold Euro 2020 across 13 cities - but it remains to be seen whether there will be interest in a competition that would pit countries of a similar stature against each other over a 10-game campaign.
The appeal of friendlies depends on the opposition and being denied the chance to bring a world force to Hampden may not sit well with some at the Scottish Football Association. Based on current rankings, Scotland would, hypothetically, be in group six alongside Armenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus and it is difficult to imagine too many "sold out" signs being posted whenever any of those countries were in town, especially without the carrot of a place at a major finals. Given there will also be major tournament qualifiers against such teams it is hard to see the attraction.
It does not take the mind of a hardened cynic, then, to suspect this may be a scheme to benefit those operating within the highest echelon of the international game. Just as the Champions League suits those clubs at the very top, so any Nations League would seem to be of greatest appeal to the elite. A top tier of Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England and Portugal would replicate the latter stages of a World Cup or European Championships, and likely be of greater interest to fans of those nations than ties with Macedonia, Montenegro or Malta.
The idea was floated at recent UEFA executive briefing ahead of their conference in Dubrovnik and will be examined in greater detail before it is either implemented or dropped depending. Ironically, it is thought the Football Assocation may be one of the dissenting voices, fearing the loss of lucrative friendlies against South American opposition - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay basically - should these proposals be pushed through.
The European Club Association will likely take a dim view as well, given their unhappiness with the amount of internationals already played. And if clubs intend to treat it as they do friendlies - effectively as a chance to give some players a rest - then the competition will be devalued before it even begins.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article