European boost for SPL Sides
Published:
SCOTLAND will have five representatives in Europe from season 2009/2010 after a shake-up of UEFA Cup qualification.
This summer’s Intertoto Cup will be the last, with the controversial tournament merging into qualification rounds for the first round proper of the UEFA Cup from the season after next.
The team that finishes fourth in the SPL is most likely to benefit, but SPL secretary Iain Blair warned holidays would need to be curtailed.
“The UEFA Cup will start in June and participation is mandatory, whereas the Intertoto was voluntary,” said Blair.
For the coming season, Scotland will have four representatives in Europe.
Celtic go straight into the group stages of the Champions League, while Rangers must negotiate two qualifying rounds.
Motherwell, who finished third in the SPL, and Scottish Cup runners-up Queen of the South will attempt to make the group stages of the UEFA Cup.
Hibs are the only team taking part in the Intertoto Cup, but they must make it through two rounds over the summer if they are to form a trio of Scottish clubs in the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup.
Mixu Paatelainen’s men take on either the Swedes Elfsborg or HB Torshavn from the Faroe Islands early next month.
If they were to progress, they would play a team from Latvia, Iceland, the Ireland or Wales.
For season 2009/2010, Scotland will retain its two Champions League places and the Scottish Cup winners will continue to enter the UEFA Cup in the round before the group stage.
The SPL’s third-placed team will begin their campaign one level earlier, in the third qualifying round, while the fourth-placed team will start in early July in the second qualifying round.
Blair has contacted UEFA to request that in future the Scottish Cup runners-up do not qualify for European competition.
