The UEFA Nations cash cow

This post was featured on maltatoday.com.mt 

If your wife complains that there's too much football on TV, just don't read this post.

A new (additional) competition for national teams has been announced by UEFA this week. The 'Nations League' will be played every 2 years replacing most international friendly matches as of 2018.

I won't go into the convoluted format being proposed. The innovation lies mainly in the fact that national teams will be split into four different divisions according to their ranking, with the possibility of being promoted or relegated. Mini-tournaments will be played between groups of 3 or 4 teams, with the winners then playing for the title of each division and the possibility of earning a place in the European Championship and possibly the World Cup finals. Complicated? Let go.

Judging by current rankings, Malta would be playing in the bottom division with the other 'minnows' (but also a few not-so-small countries). This gives competition a whole new meaning for our national team. It will have more opportunities to go out on the pitch to win games rather than simply to mitigate the damage, as is often the case nowadays.

The idea looks promising. It should inject some much-needed interest into local football and a sense of belonging vis-à-vis our national team. Let's face it, how many times do we go to the stadium with a real conviction that the boys in red could win points? The occurrence is very rare, usually once or twice in each qualifying campaign.

I believe this could also be a good opportunity for the development of the local game. The team could start preparing matches with a slightly more adventurous game plan.  

The Nations League will not replace the traditional qualifiers for both the European Championships and the World Cup. Another good compromise, which ensures that we will still enjoy the odd big-name fixture, such as the upcoming match against Italy in September.

The move was (also) attractive from a financial point of view, there's no two ways about it. This competition will reshift the balance between club and national team football. The big bucks being made from the Champions League could be replicated via national teams. A different set of allegiances, banking on national fervour, but with the same potential for television networks.

This aspect should also work out well for us though. As of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, UEFA has started to sell TV rights collectively for the entire competition (rather than having each national association negotiate rights for its own home games) - this should bring better returns to the Malta FA and other small countries sharing the same pot with the big guns.

UEFA President Michel Platini is certainly banking on this grand scheme and the unanimous support of the European football family in view of next year's race for the FIFA presidency. He is still to announce whether he will take on the ever-present Sepp Blatter. But let's leave that for another time.

Despite a million problems, football remains in demand. Let's just hope we're not heading towards an overkill.