New format of Europa Conference League

Is the new model of Conference League coming soon?

The introduction of the third level of UEFA competitions was aimed at expanding the participation of countries in UEFA club competitions (i.e. in the proper part of them – group phase).

Although the expansion took place, these games did not attract too much attention from the media and fans. Rather, it seems that the next level of competition has been created to satisfy the ambitions of clubs in the middle of the table of the best European leagues. The Conference League is considered unexciting and of little value and cannot attract the attention of fans other than those directly involved in their clubs. 

UEFA announces that it intends to reform all European club competitions from the Champions League to the Conference League. This is a good time to think about the role the new Conference League shall play in the reformed model.

How to cause to increase the commitment and prestige of the lowest level club competitions? The idea behind us is to create competitions that will attract the attention of many more fans, including fans from countries whose participation in previous European club competitions was marginal.

The new format of Conference(s) League (which we have named using the plural) is a league consisting of 12 conferences. Regional cups are held in the autumn and their finals in early spring. Only the winners of the regional cups and some relegated teams from the Europa League play the knockout phase in the spring. So the model from the Round of 16 phase is the same as now, but the concept of playing the league in the autumn is definitely changing.

Regional Cups

We propose the creation of 12 conferences, each bringing together 4 or 5 countries, which are geographically, ethnically or politically related as far as possible. The set that we propose in the new format of Conference League is an optimal concept that takes into account the above criteria and at the same time avoids the unification of countries that are seriously conflicted, at war or do not recognize their sovereignty.

Scheme

Each conference selects its champion. The final of each conference is a separate important media event that takes place de facto in the middle of the season. Thanks to this, the involvement of fans and media increases significantly already during the season, and not only in the final phase. Each conference can give its own name to the games (we give examples of such names), which will promote greater identification and involvement of fans and media.

The new format of the Conference(s) League is to be based on the principle of egalitarianism. Each country has 3 or possibly 4 clubs that represent it at the group phase. Also, fans from countries such as Lithuania, Bosnia or Georgia will be able to get excited about group games on a full-time basis being represented by several clubs, and not just have the opportunity to see one or two qualifying matches. The new scheme of the Conference(s) League obviously violates the principle of parity of strength of the associations to which it has been applied so far. However, we believe that power parity should only be applied in the Champions League and Europa League, while the idea of the new format of the Conference(s) League should be different. These are supposed to be games available in the same way for all countries. The quality criterion will become decisive only from the quarter-final stage.

Read more details about the new model of Europa Conference League here (download pdf).

	official name of conference	specific own name of cup (sample)	countries
	4 groups x 4 teams	5 countries x 3 teams + 1 team
I	CENTRAL – WEST CONFERENCE	MIDDLE EUROPEAN CUP	Austria Germany Hungary Liechtenstein Slovenia Switzerland
II	NORTH CONFERENCE	NORDIC CUP	Denmark  Faroe Islands Iceland Norway Sweden
III	NORTH – WEST CONFERENCE	BRITISH CUP	England  Gibraltar  Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
IV	CENTRAL – EAST CONFERENCE	BLACK SEA CUP	Azerbaijan  Bulgaria  Moldova Romania Türkiye
V	SOUTH CONFERENCE	ROMAN-DALMATIAN CUP	Albania  Croatia  Italy Kosovo San Marino
	3 groups x 4 teams	4 countries x 3 teams
VI	EAST CONFERENCE	EURO-ASIAN CUP	Armenia  Belarus  Georgia Kazachstan Russia
VII	SOUTH – EAST CONFERENCE	EAST MEDITERRANEAN CUP	Cyprus  Greece Israel Malta
VIII	CENTRAL – SOUTH CONFERENCE	BALKAN CUP	Bosnia  North Macedonia Montenegro Serbia
IX	SOUTH – WEST CONFERENCE	ATLANTIC-IBERIAN CUP	Andorra  Ireland Portugal Spain
X	NORTH – EAST CONFERENCE	BALTIC CUP	Estonia  Finland Latvia Lithuania
XI	WEST CONFERENCE	WESTERN EUROPEAN CUP	Belgium  France Luxembourg Netherlands
XII	CENTRAL – NORTH CONFERENCE	NORTH SLAVIC CUP	Czechia  Poland Slovakia Ukraine

The simulation was carried out with real data and random data. The qualification methodology and full simulation you can find on this pdf file.

Austria LASK, Rapid Wien, Austria Wien	Germany FC Köln, Mainz, Hoffenheim
Hungary Kisvárda, Puskás Akadémia, Fehérvár FC	Liechtenstein Vaduz
Slovenia Koper, Olimpija Ljubljana, Maribor	Switzerland Lugano, Basel, Young Boys
Denmark Silkeborg, Brøndby, AaB, Viborg	Faroe Islands B36 Tórshavn,  HB Tórshavn,  Víkingur
Iceland Víkingur Reykjavík, Breiðablik, KR	Norway Molde, Viking, Lillestrøm
Sweden AIK, Djurgårdens IF, IF Elfsborg
England Leicester City, West Ham, Brighton & Hove, Wolverhampton	Gibraltar Europa,  St Joseph’s, Lincoln Red Imps
Northern Ireland Crusaders, Cliftonville, Linfield	Scotland Dundee Utd, Motherwell, Heart of Midlothian
Wales Bala Town, Newtown, The New Saints
Azerbaijan Neftçi Baku, Zira, Gabala	Bulgaria Levski Sofia, CSKA Sofia, Botev
Moldova Petrocub Hîncești, Milsami Orhei, Sfîntul	Romania Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, FCSB, CFR Cluj
Turkey Konyaspor, Alanyaspor, Sivasspor, Beşiktaş AŞ
Albania Vllaznia, Laçi, Tirana	Croatia Hajduk Split, Osijek, Rijeka
Italy Fiorentina, Atalanta, Hellas Verona, Torino	Kosowo Llapi, Drita,  Ballkani
San Marino Tre Fiori, Tre Penne, La Fiorita
Armenia Ararat-Armenia, Alashkert, Pyunik	Belarus Gomel, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Minsk
Georgia Saburtalo Tbilisi, Dinamo Tbilisi, Dinamo Batumi	Kazachstan Kairat, Astana, Tobol
Russia –
Cyprus APOEL, Anorthosis Famagusta, Apollon Limassol	Greece PAOK, Panathinaikos, Aris
Israel Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Mac. Tel Aviv, Mac. Netanya	Malta Floriana, Ħamrun Spartans, Hibernians
Bosnia Velež Mostar, Tuzla City, Zrinjski	North Macedonia Makedonija GP, Akademija Pandev, Shkupi
Montenegro Budućnost Podgorica, Dečić, Sutjeska Nikšić	Serbia Čukarički, Voždovac, Partizan
Andorra Atlètic d’Escaldes, Santa Coloma, Inter Club d’Escaldes	Ireland St Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City, Shamrock Rovers
Portugal Santa Clara, Gil Vicente, Vitória de Guimarães	Spain Villarreal, Athletic de Bilbao, Valencia CF
Estonia Paide Linnameeskond, Flora, Nõmme Kalju	Finland KuPS, SJK, FC Honka
Latvia Valmiera, Liepāja, RFS	Lithuania Sūduva, Panevėžys, FK Žalgiris
Belgium Anderlecht, Antwerp, Gent	France Nice, RC Strasbourg, RC Lens
Luxembourg Racing Union, Differdange 03, F91 Dudelange	Netherlands Twente, AZ, Vitesse
Czechia Slavia Praha, Sparta Praha, Slovácko	Poland Raków, Pogoń, Lech Poznań
Slovakia Spartak Trnava, Ružomberok, Slovan Bratislava	Ukraine Zorya Luhansk, Vorskla Poltava, Dnipro-1

The simulation takes into consideration real UEFA schedule for 2022-23 season. All matches are played at UEFA match days with exception of play-in round matches that need additional day.

Due to large number of teams, some rounds need to be played as single match.