BASEL, June 19 (Reuters) - European soccer's governing body UEFA will decide in the second half of this year whether to increase the number of teams competing at the European Championship finals from the current 16 from 2016.
General secretary David Taylor said on Thursday that
invitations and bid documents for Euro 2016 would probably be
sent out by the end of the year and a decision was needed before
then on whether 16, 20 or 24 nations would compete.
A consultation process would begin after the end of Euro
2008 in Switzerland and Austria involving the presidents and
general secretaries of all 53 national associations, he said at
a news conference in Basel.
'After the summer months, after this consultation phase is
complete, we will take a view as to what we should be doing in
terms of expansion of the tournament or not,' he told a news
conference.
'We will obviously be making a decision on that in the
second half of the year.'
The current 16-team format was introduced for the first time
in England in 1996. The first finals in France in 1960 comprised
four teams, a format that lasted until 1976. The finals were
doubled in size to eight teams in 1980.
One format considered for a 24-team tournament involves six
groups of four teams, last used at the 1994 World Cup finals in
the United States.
The top two from each group and the four best third-placed
teams would progress to the knockout stages.
A 20-team format would have four groups of five teams with
the top two in each group advancing.
