UEFA are set to change the name of their third European competition less than two years after the creation of the Europa Conference League....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Established in 2021, Jose Mourinho’s Roma were the inaugural winners of the European tournament, which aims to give teams another route into Europa League qualification, as well as silverware and prestige.
Mourinho placed so much value in becoming the first manager to win all three European competitions, he had the three trophies of the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League inked on his bicep to commemorate the feat.
This year, West Ham hoisted the trophy aloft after beating Fiorentina 2-1 in Prague in a win that saw the Hammers clinch their first major trophy in over 40 years.
But UEFA’s ruling, which was confirmed by a vote at an executive committee meeting on Wednesday, will see future entrants compete for a different honour.
Starting from the 2024-25 season, the competition will drop ‘Europa’ to become the UEFA Conference League.
This decision, the organisation claims, has been fueled by a desire to ensure the competition can grow as a ‘stand-alone’ entity.
In a statement shared on Wednesday, UEFA said: ‘Introduced under the ‘Europa’ umbrella at the start of the 2021–24 commercial cycle, the new competition has quickly established itself amongst a broad audience after two successful seasons.
‘Research amongst fans as well as commercial partners has found that removing “Europa” from the name of the competition will enable further development as a stand-alone competition and this proposed change was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee. It will be effective in the new cycle, as of the 2024/25 season.
‘Together with the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League will continue to deliver “Thursday Night Football” to fans across Europe and beyond.
‘A strong link between the competitions will remain in place as both brand identities will remain very close, and both competitions will continue to be sold to broadcast partners and sponsors together.’
