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Europa League: Uefa tell managers & players to talk it up
Uefa hopes to boost the Europa League's profile by asking managers and players to refer to it in glowing terms.
European football's governing body is handing out prompt sheets to the communication departments of Europa League clubs before media conferences.
The sheet, headlined "Discover the Drama", includes phrases such as "prestigious" and "rich in heritage".
Villas-Boas pre-Panathinaikos
"The profile of the competition is raised in other countries, but not England. I don't understand it. I respect the competition. I certainly think it is viewed as a punishment in England and I cannot understand why. It is a traditional trophy. We have lost the Cup Winners' Cup, which I did not think was a good decision. But it was taken to enrich the Europa League."
"The most important quality we want to communicate is that the Uefa Europa League is dramatic," it reads.
The Europa League continues to be overshadowed by the Champions League, despite a high-profile rebranding of the competition in 2009.
Winners of the Champions League take home £7.24m, while the Europa League winners earn a third of that and the difference in TV revenue is also vast.
The prompt sheet - found at Tottenham's media conference ahead of Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos in Athens - asks press officers to brief players and coaches on the Europa League's virtues.
Other British clubs in the group stages include Liverpool and Newcastle.
"At the start of the press conference, below messages should be used by the club press officers," reads the prompt sheet.
"In addition, they may also be used by club press officers when briefing coaches and players as their would be of great support to us."
It then provides the following lines of advice:
- Uefa Europa League is prestigious - it provides clubs, players and fans with the challenge of competing in European football for an elite trophy.
- Uefa Europa League is rich in heritage having provided some of European football's most memorable moments and characters in recent years.
Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas, who won the Europa League with Porto in 2011, praised the competition on Wednesday.
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Comment number 333.
Luiz6th October 2012 - 11:22
If they want to add value for the competition, they should stop putting so many teams from England and Spain. It's not interesting watching 6 minor Spanish teams competing against each other, or Newcastle and Fullham fielding reserve sides. The competition is already very important for teams from other countries but UEFA insists in putting money before sportmanship with this. And bring CWC back.
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Comment number 332.
Delbhoy826th October 2012 - 11:22
I can't understand why more teams don't already treat it seriously.
Of course, the CL is for the cream of the crop in Europe and that's out of thousands of professional football teams.
EL is for the best of the rest. The point of a CL place for the winners is an obvious one.
I'd say it's like saying "We didn't win the PL but did lift the FA cup!"
You would still celebrate winning it!!
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Comment number 331.
drolbor6th October 2012 - 11:03
I preferred Euro competitions old skool.
Champions League for Champions only.
Cup Winners Cup for FA Cup equivalent winners.
UEFA cup for everyone else.
It's all about money when a team that finishes 4th in EPL, Spanish or Serie A get priority over Malta champions. Think it devalues the spirit of the competition.
Bring back CWC.
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Comment number 330.
Kurt Replei6th October 2012 - 10:35
I agree that letting teams that fail and finish third in the CL groups then go into the Europa League completely undermines the competition.
UEFA have to stop that, and field matches on Tuesday & Wednesdays, for it to be taken seriously.
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Comment number 329.
Mister Chops6th October 2012 - 10:21
Europa League should definitely be taken more seriously, not just by fans but by Uefa themselves. It shouldn't need talking up if it was improved, for example:
No CL dropouts.
Less teams in the group stage, or no GS at all.
Qualification based on cup perfomances.
Winner gets a CL place.
The problem with the Europa League at the moment is too many games for a 'second tier' tournament.
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Comments 5 of 333