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UEFA creates confusion among fans, media with ' League of Nations' announcement

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ANI Washington
Last Updated : Mar 28 2014 | 1:40 PM IST

European football governing body's latest plan to revolutionize international football with the new 'League of Nations' has reportedly created confusion after its announcement.

UEFA has stepped up its attempt to bring more prestige to friendly games, creating more opportunities for countries to qualify for the 2020 European Championship finals and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

However, CNN reports that the plan left journalists and fans confused, with nobody seemingly able to explain just quite how the tournament will work and even UEFA admits the format 'has not been finalized'.

Instead, the report added, the social media was awash with doubts and more questions than answers over the new system, which was given the go-ahead at the UEFA Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Set to commence in September 2018, the competition will involve all 54 member nations, with four divisions of 12-14 teams divided into four smaller pools and the report mentioned that the winner of each mini-pool will then meet at a neutral venue in June 2019, and the overall division winner automatically qualifies for the Euro 2020 finals.

The remaining 20 qualification places for Euro 2020 will be decided through the usual qualifying process, with games played from 2019, possibly going on as late as March 2020.

While fans across the world wrestled with a potentially exciting concept bereft of any definite detail, UEFA recognized the new venture as a 'big step for national teams in Europe', the report added.

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First Published: Mar 28 2014 | 1:25 PM IST

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