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Of: TT
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Photo: Andreas Hillergren / TT
Søren Rieks and his Malmö FF reached last winter’s 16-part final in the Europa League. Starting next season, however, no Swedish team will be able to start their qualifying journey to the EL group stage, but three out of four clubs will qualify for the new Europa Conference League. Stock Photography.
The backyard of European football expects three out of four Swedish clubs next year.
Only champions have a chance to reach the Champions League or the Europa League; for others, the games of the new third division Europa Conference League await.
– Financially, that tournament does not seem to be that attractive, says Lars-Christer Olsson, president of Swedish elite football.
This week the journey continues towards the Europa League (EL) group stage match for Hammarby (Wednesday), Djurgården, IFK Gothenburg and Malmö FF (Thursday) with the second qualifying round, but it is the last season in where three of the four Swedish teams can reach the second largest club tournament in European football.
Next summer a new reality awaits you. This year’s Swedish champions will continue to qualify for the Champions League (CL) and will also have the opportunity to play in the EL group in the event of a failed CL qualifier, but the second and third in the Allsvenskan and the winners of the next year they will qualify in the future for the new Europa Conference League (ECL) tournament.
A third division that criticizes the Swedish elite football (Sef).
“Risk that we mark”
– The big problem now is that it does not seem to have a financial allocation that makes it attractive to play. It is a risk that we have marked, says Lars-Christer Olsson, president of both the Sef and the association of European leagues.
In the event of a successful EL qualifier, MFF, Gothenburg, Hammarby and Djurgården can receive at least 38 million SEK in the form of a guaranteed group match. Just going to the last stage of qualifying generates a lot of money in a Swedish context: in the event of losing a tiebreaker, they have recorded more than 11 million crowns in UEFA compensation.
It’s unclear how big the money bag will be for future ECL games. The news has been delayed due to the corona pandemic.
– For competition to be perceived as meaningful, it requires adequate financial investment. Because it’s doubtful that the match organization generates that much because it’s about completely unknown teams you’re up against, says Olsson.
Lose income
Malmö FF CEO Niclas Carlnén, as a member of the board of the ECA (European Clubs Association) interest group, is part of the UEFA task force that works with money distribution. A work that has not yet finished.
– Due to the pandemic, we do not know what the total income is and how much money is going to be distributed, says Niclas Carlnén.
The Corona pandemic will also affect revenue from previous and upcoming seasons in the Champions League and Europa League.
– In 2020, there will be a loss of income and it is difficult to say exactly how much money will be distributed. It is not believed that there is a big difference, but it will affect. A small decrease can be expected, says Carlnén.
One argument for introducing a third tier during the Champions League and Europa League is that the national associations want more club teams in tournaments. All three tournaments will have 32 teams each in the group stage, but in reality there are only 16 new places as the Europa League shrinks from 48 teams. The new structure applies during the 2023-2024 season.
– But there is no point in having many teams in a tournament if the tournament does not generate both sporting and financial success, says Lars-Christer Olsson.
Europe’s biggest opportunity
For Swedish clubs, it is the first place in the Allsvenskan that provides the opportunity to reach the best halls in Europe. As before, the champions will qualify for the Champions League, but there are lifesavers for both the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
A gold in the Swedish Championship offers better chances than before to reach the group games in Europe.
– Allsvenskan’s first place will be important for precisely those reasons. So you always want to win the Allsvenskan in any case, says Niclas Carlnén.
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