Summary: In this weekly edition, Anto is joined by international football commentator and correspondent Gab Marcotti to take a deeper dive look into the many economic, sporting and political challenges that are facing UEFA in terms of its marquee competitions under new light, highlighting some structural ideas and possible reforms as European football looks toward the 2016-2019 cycle. After a long and thorough examination of the seeding processes and competitive challenges, everything is on the table as we consider the Market Pool issues with TV money, whether UEFA would consider a much more regionalized approach in their earlier stages, expanded group stage play, removing the throttle on same association teams in direct competition throughout these tournaments and if the tournament should abandon away goals and look to more single elimination rounds before the group stage phase ever begins. Should the format of added extra time be examined, do we force smaller federations to play in regional-specific qualifying rounds to build back key rivalries and what if the knockout rounds went to a straight seeding system removing the cycle of competitive draws that have placed more emphasis on the draw itself than actual performance. To prepare for this episode, the last three years of the Champions League and Europa League competitions were analyzed to weigh out a number of key factors including regionalization, minimizing logistical drain on travel, enhanced rivalries in the qualifying rounds and how to best position European football from both the fan experience and competitive landscape. We also tackle the matter of the Memorandum of Understanding between UEFA and the elite clubs of Europe set to expire in 2018 and what that could mean in the future as concerns of a European Super League are coming into view once again.
