Wednesday's soccer news starts with the difference between a delay and a reevaluation. UEFA formally postponed a decision on the future of the Champions League until next month. European soccer's governing body originally set today to vote on changes to their marquee club tournament in advance of the 2024-25 season. Reports have UEFA pushing for the Swiss system that would dramatically increase . . .
UEFA may be pushing for even more change
By J Hutcherson (Mar 30, 2021) US Soccer Players - It's probably easier to look at what might not be changing in the way European club soccer runs. We already knew about the various ideas for revamping the Champions League, the threat of a super league, and FIFA's push for a bigger Club World Cup. Now, there are reports that UEFA is considering doing away with Financial Fair Play. That comes at a . . .
UEFA’s interesting approach to World Cup qualifying
Wednesday's soccer news starts with World Cup qualifying getting underway in Europe and Concacaf. Those two confederations are the last to join the party, with AFC and CAF starting the long road to 2022 in 2019 and CONMEBOL last October. Unlike Concacaf, UEFA starts with all 55 of its countries involved, divided into groups of five or six teams. March is a three-game window in Europe, meaning . . .
FIFA confirms that any breakaway league is an outlaw league
Friday's soccer news starts with FIFA and its member Confederations taking time out of their busy schedules to remind us of something obvious. Should the elite European clubs breakaway to form a super league, they're also breaking away from FIFA. That means super league players wouldn't be eligible to play for their countries. Specifically, "Any club or player involved in such a competition would . . .
The 2021 soccer schedule
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Dec 28, 2020) US Soccer Players – 2020 was an unprecedented year loaded with obstacles, rescheduled games, and health protocols. Even when soccer came back, it wasn't the same. Tournaments played in bubbles, no fans allowed into stadiums, and piped in crowd noise became common this year. Despite all of this, enough of the games continued to create a new normal. . . .
2020 doesn’t need a Super League rumor
By J Hutcherson (Oct 20, 2020) US Soccer Players - Last week's brief Project Big Picture debate lasted just long enough to remind everybody how generally annoying revamp ideas have gotten. There's always someone or some group that knows that they can do things better. Then there's the current stakeholders insisting on holding onto what they have. That's been an ongoing them in European soccer . . .
UEFA’s Super Cup
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Agnelli on the broadcast fallout for European clubs
Tuesday's soccer news starts with European Club Association and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli making one economic issue clear. UEFA will likely refund Champions League and Europa League broadcast rights holders around 575 million euros. Agnelli made that statement at the organization's 24th general assembly with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin present. "We have seen a £330million rebate in . . .
FIFA, UEFA, and playing games during a pandemic
By J Hutcherson (Aug 25, 2020) US Soccer Players - In this era of pretending that it might be possible to have reasonable control of a situation, it has to be tough to be a governing body. On Monday, FIFA released a set of temporary regulations for the September international window. With UEFA the only confederation using the September dates, the regulations only apply in Europe. Still, it's an . . .
What we learned from Europe this season
By J Hutcherson (Jul 21, 2020) US Soccer Players - It was already an interesting time for European soccer even before the pandemic that brought leagues to an abrupt halt in March. Look back at some of the articles on the future of the sport making the rounds late in 2019, and the primary focus was what happens next. The Champions League TV deal ends in 2022 with the expectation that UEFA will make . . .
