Officially. Results of the June meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee

28.06.2023 21:34

Photo by uefa.com

Today, a meeting of the executive committee of the organization, which includes Andriy Pavelko, took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. A number of decisions were made during this meeting important decisions.

So, the final of the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League will be hosted by the Lisbon "José Alvalade" (Sporting's home arena).

The final of the UEFA Conference League 2024 is to be hosted by the Athens stadium of the local club AEK Hagia Sophia. A final decision on this issue will be made by November 2023 after a trial period.

The final of the UEFA Conference League 2025 will be held in Wroclaw, Poland, at the Wrocław Stadium, which is the home arena of the local Słonsk.

Poland will host the final part of the 2025 European Under-19 Championship for girls.

The format of the European qualification for the 2026 World Cup

UEFA recommended that FIFA use the following format for the selection of 16 European national teams for the 2026 World Cup.

12 groups of five or four national teams will play in the period from March to November 2025 according to the traditional group system. 12 group winners will receive direct tickets to the final stage. The 12 runners-up teams and the four best 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League group winners who finish below second place in the group stage of European qualification will take part in knock-out mini-tournaments.

The contact mini-tournaments will consist of one-match semi-finals and finals and will be held within the same window of the national team match. The 16 participants will be divided into four playoff grids of four in each.

The procedures for the drawing of matches and the final stage of Euro-2024 were also approved.

The UEFA Executive Committee also approved several important amendments to the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Stability Rules, which will enter into force on July 1, 2023. Read more — by link.

Starting from the 2024/2025 season, the official name of the UEFA Conference League will be UEFA Conference League instead of UEFA Europa Conference League.

In addition, the UEFA Executive Committee approved UEFA's minimum standards for national women's teams. More information on this will be provided in due course.  

The new format of the UEFA Youth League

The tournament will be adapted to the new format of the main UEFA club competitions. 36 youth teams will participate in it, representing the clubs of the main tournament of the UEFA Champions League-2024/2025 (Champions League Path).

The path of national champions is reformed in such a way that it includes the winners of the youth championships of all UEFA associations (now only the best 32 associations participate in the tournament).

If a club qualifies for the Champions League Pathway and Country Champions Pathway tournament, it will automatically be included in the Champions League Pathway. The place vacated on the Path of Champions of the Countries will be occupied by the winner of the second place of the respective championship.

The winner of the UEFA Youth League will automatically enter the Champions League Path if they did not qualify for the tournament through the Champions League Path.

The tournament in the Path of the Champions League will completely repeat the corresponding stage of the adult tournament - the participants will play six matches, three each at home and away.

The tournament in the Path of Champions of the Countries will consist of three rounds, which will be held according to the scheme of playoffs with two-match confrontations (home and away). Clubs from the highest ranked associations will start the tournament from the second round.

At the end of the aforementioned rounds, starting from the 1/16 final stage, playoffs will be held, within which the winner of each confrontation will be determined in one match.

Clubs ranked 1st to 6th (Champions League Path) will immediately qualify for the round of 1 and play clubs ranked 16th to 17nd.

Clubs with a rating from 7th to 16th in the 1/16 finals will meet with teams that have overcome the selection within the Path of Champions of Countries.

Clubs ranked 23rd or lower in the Champions League Path will leave the tournament, as will those who are relegated in the knockout stages of the Champions League Path.

The tournament will end with the final stage with the participation of four teams (semi-finals and final), which will be held on neutral territory.

The pairings of the 1/8th, 1/4th and 1/2 finals will be determined by a draw.

The next meeting of the UEFA Vice-Committee will be held on September 26 in Limassol (Cyprus).