The Asian version of UEFA’s Nations League and what it means for India

The inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League has earned widespread praise from players, managers, and journalists from across the continent. Russian sports publication Sovetskiy Sport hailed the new competition as the "greatest footballing invention of the century”.

The competition has been six years in the making. The new format was introduced by Uefa to add a more competitive edge to otherwise meaningless friendly matches and give every nation a chance to deal with comparable opponents.

UEFA has split 55 European nations into four divisions based on their FIFA ranking, which is then split into three or four-team groups. Between each division, the top side in each group will be promoted to the division above, and the bottom side in each group will be relegated to the division below. A champion will emerge from a final four after a mini-tournament in June.

Another key feature of the league is that it incentivizes Europe’s smallest teams by giving them a back-door entry into the European Championship through the Nations League.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is sure to be watching, since AFC secretary-general Datuk Windsor is looking to start the Asian version of UEFA’s Nations League beginning 2021.

Speaking to NewStraightsTimes, Windsor said, “The idea (Asian Nations League) is really good but we need to revise all AFC competitions in the near future to ensure it is in line with the Asian body’s vision and mission.

“The probability of AFC coming up with such a competition is possible but it needs thorough assessment first before it can be implemented,”

For Asia, the UEFA Nations League will clearly have an impact, as UEFA Nations won’t be available for ‘friendly’ matches played on FIFA match dates - particularly those windows in the second half of every calendar year. As a result, leading AFC nations ( Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia, and Saudi Arabia) will now have to look at South America and Africa for friendly matches. Additionally, it could harm their ranking points when seeding is arranged for the World Cup.

What does it mean for India?

A look at India’s FIFA calendar would reveal that senior football team played only two friendlies out of a possible six in the last three FIFA international windows. India is among the bottom three teams out of the 24 that are going to be at the Asian Cup that has played the least number of friendlies.

AIFF (All India Football Federation) which usually fails to arrange meaningful friendlies for the national team would greatly benefit from the Nations League as it will have a clear schedule of matches of competitive nature. It will no longer have to scramble to organize barely watched friendlies against minnows of South Asia.