UEFA EURO 2020, UEFA Super Cup decisions

The UEFA Executive Committee today approved the timeline for bidders interested in hosting UEFA EURO 2020. UEFA will hold discussions with all national associations that will conclude with the publishing of the detailed bid regulations in December 2012. From then onwards associations interested in bidding should prepare their bid documentation ready for the deadline to submit bids to UEFA in September 2013. The submitted bids will then be evaluated and an announcement of the host(s) for UEFA EURO 2020 will be made in May 2014.

UEFA EURO 2020 will mark the 60th anniversary since the first-ever UEFA European Championship in 1960. Therefore, the Executive Committee also debated the potential hosting format for the final tournament in 2020, where one, two or more two host countries, or indeed several host cities, may be considered as eligible, depending on the precise model proposed.

The Executive Committee also approved a new revenue distribution split for clubs for the UEFA club competition cycle 2012-15. The overall split between the clubs and UEFA remains the same, as does the pattern between "fixed amounts" and the "market pool". However, in a show of increased solidarity among the clubs, a contribution of €40m from the UEFA Champions League will be made to the UEFA Europa League clubs in order to reduce the income gap between the two competitions. This will be made up of around €31.5m from the UEFA Champions League clubs and around €8.5m from UEFA. Revenues for both club competitions are expected to rise for the 2012-15 cycle: 22% for the UEFA Champions League (estimated yearly income of €1.34 billion) and 12% for the UEFA Europa League (estimated yearly income of €225m).

The 2014 and 2015 UEFA Super Cup hosts were assigned. In 2014 the UEFA Super Cup will take place at Cardiff City Stadium, Wales, while in 2015 the match will be held at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Executive Committee also agreed a new date for the UEFA Super Cup. As from 2014 it will take place in mid-August pending ratification of the new international match calendar by FIFA (as of 2014). The venue for the 2013 UEFA Super Cup has already been announced as Eden Stadium, Prague on 30 August 2013.

A proposed two-year trial of a new UEFA youth club competition at under-19 age limit was accepted. The competition will start as of 2013/14 and access will be reserved for the youth teams of the 32 participating clubs in the UEFA Champions League group stage. The teams will play a group stage with the same composition and calendar as the UEFA Champions League. The knockout phase will be single-leg ties, meaning a maximum possible of ten matches, with the semi-finals and final played at neutral venues.

The Executive Committee was briefed on the performance of the additional assistant referees (AARs) by chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina. In over 1,000 matches, including 290 in the UEFA Champions League, 615 in the UEFA Europa League and 30 matches at EURO 2012, and with the exception of one error at UEFA EURO 2012, the experiment with AARs has proved extremely positive. The UEFA Executive Committee gave its unanimous support to the use of the five officials and requested that a full debate on the use of technology in football take place. FIFA and the International Football Association Board are expected to give their opinion on goal line technology and the use of AARs on 5 July.