Lyon to host 2018 UEFA Europa League final

052 – Format of 2018–21 UEFA club competitions finalised

The UEFA Executive Committee met today at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, and awarded the organisation of the 2018 UEFA Europa League final to the city of Lyon, France.

Regarding the UEFA club competitions cycle of 2018–21, further to the decisions made in August, the full details of the access list, club coefficient and distribution were approved.

For the upcoming cycle, it was also decided to have two separate kick-off times in the UEFA Champions League, at 19.00CET (two matches) and 21.00CET (six matches), allowing fans opportunities to watch more matches.

The new access list continues to provide the 55 national associations with a chance to qualify for the group stage of both club competitions. It will also ensure that all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League get a second chance in the European competitions by entering a dedicated champions' path in UEFA Europa League qualification.

The new club coefficient will no longer include a 20% contribution of the respective national association coefficient in order to avoid further unfair advantage for clubs of top-ranked associations and penalisation of clubs with good individual performances but a weak association coefficient. The club coefficient used for seeding purposes will be calculated using results of the past five years to reflect the current strength of teams and will not contain bonus points for previous titles.

Meanwhile, the club coefficient used for financial distribution purposes will cover the last ten years and will include bonus points for previous titles to reflect the longer-term contribution of clubs to the competition brand and success. Bonus points for trophies won will be allocated as follows:

Following a proposal from the UEFA President, an additional contribution of €50m from the UEFA Champions League to the UEFA Europa League will be made, and a further €10m will be earmarked also from the UEFA Champions League as additional solidarity distribution for the qualifying rounds.

The committee agreed to further strengthen UEFA's comprehensive anti-doping programme by extending the time of storage of samples to ten years, allowing retesting once new testing procedures become available.

The UEFA Executive Committee approved the bidding principle for the 2019 UEFA Nations League Final Four – to be played between 5 and 9 June 2019 – with the hosts to be selected from among the four finalists. The key requirements will include having two stadiums of minimum capacity 30,000 to host one semi-final each, one third-placed match and the final within a radius of 150km. The bidding process will start in December 2017 and the hosts will be appointed in December 2018.

The system to determine the host city pairing for the final tournament of UEFA EURO 2020 was approved. Several lists of pairs will be created based on sporting strength (assuming all host teams qualify); geography (distances); and if applicable, security/political constraints. The UEFA administration will draw up five or six different lists of city pairings – all respecting the above criteria – and one list of pairs will then be selected by draw in November/December 2017.

The bidding concept for UEFA EURO 2024 was ratified and will allow joint bids. Direct qualification will be guaranteed in any case to a maximum of two hosts. The minimum requirements to stage the tournament will be based on nine or ten stadia, with two or three of at least 50,000 net capacity (preferably one with minimum 60,000); three stadiums with at least 40,000 net capacity; and four stadiums with at least 30,000 net capacity.

The bidding timeline will be as follows:

• 9 December 2016: official invitation to bid sent out to UEFA member associations

• 3 March 2017: deadline for national associations to confirm their interest in bidding

• 10 March 2017: announcement of bidders by UEFA

• 27 April 2018: bid dossier submission deadline to UEFA

• September 2018: appointment of host(s) of UEFA EURO 2024

The bidding concept for the club competition finals in 2019 was approved and interested associations will have until 27 January 2017 to express their interest. Decisions on the hosts will be made in September 2017.

Host associations were appointed for a variety of competitions:

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship – Italy 2019

• UEFA European Under-19 Championship – Armenia 2019, Northern Ireland 2020

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship – Republic of Ireland 2019, Estonia 2020

• UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship – Scotland 2019, Georgia 2020

• UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship – Bulgaria 2019, Sweden 2020

• UEFA Fustal Cup – Almaty, Kazakhstan 2017

Prize money for UEFA Women's EURO 2017, which will see 16 teams compete, has been increased significantly to €8m from the €2.2m available in 2013. Each team eliminated in the group stage will receive €300,000. Teams knocked out in the quarter-finals will be the recipients of €500,000. Those making it to the semi-finals will get €700,000. The runners-up will pocket €1m and the European Champions will take home €1.2m.

Results of the 2015/16 Fair Play Rankings were presented, with the associations of Norway (overall fair play), Estonia (best spectators) and Belarus (best progression) to each receive €50,000, to be donated to an amateur or professional club of their choice to fund fair play or respect-related themed projects.

Finally, the current UEFA director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti was appointed UEFA Deputy General Secretary.

The next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee will take place on 8 and 9 February in Nyon.

Note to editors:

*UCL=UEFA Champions League; UEL= UEFA Europa League; CWC=UEFA Cup Winners' Cup