(Reuters) – UEFA will listen to national team managers’ concerns over squad size for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, European football’s governing body said on Thursday.
A return to the pre-Covid-19 23-player limit had been confirmed by UEFA, after it was increased to 26 for Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022, and coaches have voiced their concerns.
“We have taken note of comments expressed by some national team coaches on the squad size for Euro 2024,” a UEFA spokesperson said.
“A workshop with the participating teams will be held on 8 April and on that occasion UEFA will listen to the views of the coaches. Any idea in this respect will then be considered and assessed.”
During the recent international window, England coach Gareth Southgate and Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman spoke about the issue.
“It is very strange not to choose from 26 players. It is absurd to return to 23,” Koeman said after his side’s 2-1 loss to Germany on Tuesday.
“You have to deal more with injuries these days. It is about the load carrying ability of the players.”
Southgate has said that he will name an extended initial squad, and is hopeful of a reversal of UEFA’s decision.
“It’s inevitable we’re going to be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here (in 2021) even though we were dealing with 26 then,” Southgate said.
“There is one more UEFA meeting where there’s been a little bit of talk amongst some of the coaches about possibly increasing that.”
The deadline for the submission of squad lists to UEFA is June 7. The tournament begins on June 14.
The Asian Football Confederation increased the squad limit from 23 to 26 for the Asian Cup which began in January this year. The African Cup of Nations, which also kicked off in January, had a squad limit of 27.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
Source Agencies
