By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – German Football Association (DFB) President Wolfgang Niersbach has expressed his concern over UEFA’s decision to increase the size of the European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams.
This year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine are the last in the current format before the tournament switches to 24 nations in France in 2016.
Europe’s smaller countries have long been pushing for an expansion but with few potential host nations having the capacity to cope with eight finalists more, Niersbach is not sure the move is the correct one.
“I personally find the format with 16 teams ideal,” Niersbach (pictured above) said.
“We at the DFB view the [expansion] with mixed feelings.
“It was smaller nations like Finland and Scotland, and I think Norway was in there as well, who had never qualified and who pushed it through with their votes.”
Scotland has already expressed an interest in staging Euro 2020 alongside Wales and the Republic of Ireland, with Turkey the only hosts to officially put their candidature forward – pending the outcome of Istanbul’s 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid.
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