UEFA has rejected a claim from a newspaper that it wants to convert the European Championship to rival the World Cup.
A few facts of the European Championship:-
* Started in 1960. Had four teams in the finals-17 entered.
* Format of four-team finals. It continued until 1976
* Expanded to eight teams in 1980
* In 996, 16 teams took part when the tournament took place in England
* The 2000 finals were hosted by two countries- Netherlands and Belgium
* 2016 finals would be hosted by France with 24 teams expected to participate.
* Winners of the tournament are presented with the Henri Delaunay Trophy. It is named in the honour of the general secretary of UEFA.
The European governing body was planning to expand the tournament to include Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Japan.
A spokesperson said: “UEFA has nothing to do with the plans mentioned in the story”. Fifa could regard a European Championship as a threat to the World Cup. European Championship recruits as many nations in Europe as possible.
Euro 2016, hosted in France is expected to be a 24-team tournament, while in 2020; the tournament would be played across Europe’s major cities instead of a single country.
Fifa President, Sepp Blatter said that it the European Championship “lacks heart and soul”.