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Uefa Launches Champions League-style Youth Tournament in Bid to Regain Control from NextGen |
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Football - 07 Dec 2012 - By Martin Ross
Uefa, soccer’s European governing body, has announced the inception of a new under-19 club competition that will begin next season, initially on a two-year trial basis, as it aims to regain control of the youth club game from the recently-established NextGen Series.
The name for the ‘UEFA Youth League’ competition was approved during Uefa’s executive committee meeting in Lausanne yesterday, and it will mirror the group-stage format of the Uefa Champions League, with all 32 clubs that qualify for European club soccer’s top-tier competition also given the opportunity to participate in the Uefa Youth League from next season.
Discussions over the new youth tournament have been taking place for much of this year, involving the European Club Association, which represents 207 of Europe’s leading soccer clubs, other stakeholders and Uefa’s Professional Football Strategy Council. The format and access list for the Uefa Youth League was approved at Uefa’s executive committee meeting in June.
The NextGen Series was founded in 2011 by Justin Andrews, a television producer, and Mark Warbuton, the sporting director of third-tier English club Brentford, and, after raising funds from private investors, signed up a group of top European clubs to play in its own Champions League-style under-19 tournament. The competition expanded to 24 teams in the group stages this season.
Leading European clubs such as Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Internazionale are all taking part in this season’s NextGen Series, which receives significant exposure in Europe on Eurosport and in the Americas, Oceania and the Middle East on ESPN International after four-year broadcast rights deals were recently signed.
Asked by Sportcal today for a response to Uefa's move to launch its own youth club competition, NextGen Series said: "We are hugely flattered that Uefa have recognised the need for an under-19s tournament to provide young players with international experience, and that they have emulated the format of the NextGen Series. Our second season is well under way and we look forward to the completion of our group stages and to the finals in the early part of next year."
Asked whether the clubs that it has already signed up will be free to take part in the Uefa Youth League next season, NextGen said: "All the clubs who are eligible for both tournaments could participate in both. Also, not all of the NextGen clubs will be eligible to take part in the Uefa tournament as it's Champions League teams only.''
The 2013-14 Uefa Youth League will involve a 96-game group stage between September and December 2013, with fixtures played around or on the same dates as the Uefa Champions League games at grounds in close proximity to the venues used for those matches where logistics allow.
The eight group winners and eight runners-up will then progress to a knockout phase, played in single matches, from February 2014 onwards with the format to remain the same for the 2014-15 competition, before a review takes place.
Uefa said that the launch of a youth competition follows a request made three years ago by clubs.
It is thought that one of the points raised by smaller clubs and the European leagues about the structure of the competition was whether simply the clubs that qualify for the Uefa Champions League should simultaneously take part in the Uefa Youth League, or, as they argued, whether clubs should instead qualify on the basis of sporting merit at youth level (ie the national champions at under-18 or under-19 level) in order to promote youth development.
However, Europe’s top clubs are thought to have pushed for the model that has now been announced, which appears to be easier to market, could prove to be self-financing in time and reduces costs by allowing matches to take place around the same time as Champions League games to cut travel and organisational costs.
Major European clubs such as Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and AC Milan never signed up to the NextGen Series and are thought to have been particularly supportive of Uefa’s efforts to create its own competition.
Commenting on the launch of the new youth club competition, Uefa president Michel Platini said: "We believe that the Uefa Youth League is an attractive additional proposition for Uefa Champions League clubs.
"We have now created a competitive opportunity for youth players to be involved in international matches at club level. It allows us to provide a development opportunity and great experience not only for the players, but also for referees, who will be appointed on an international basis.
"Additionally, Uefa will also bring its organisational control to these matches, which will mirror closely the Uefa Champions League season. There are benefits for clubs, as they will be able to bridge the gap between their youth and first teams, and enhance their commitment to developing their teams at youth level. Our objective is only driven by a sporting perspective."
Uefa previously organised an official under-18 challenge match between Bayern Munich and Internazionale, the two finalists of the 2009-10 Champions League.
Teams competing in this season's NextGen Series include: Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa (all England); Marseille (France); Wolfsburg (Germany); Molde and Rosenborg (Norway); Athletic Bilbao (Spain); Ajax and PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands); Celtic (Scotland); Fenerbahce (Turkey); Sporting Lisbon (Portugal); Olympiakos (Greece), CSKA Moscow (Russia); and Anderlecht (Belgium).
Sportcal |
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