Concacaf follows Uefa in confirming new Nations League | OneFootball

Concacaf announced on Thursday plans to create a new national team competition similar to the one that Uefa will introduce in September 2018.

The new Nations League will feature all 41 Concacaf countries, which will be broken down into three groups based on their ‘sporting level’ of play.

Unlike the domestic game in the United States and Canada, the Concacaf Nations League will feature promotion and relegation between the divisions.

The move is part of a what appears to be a wider trend of replacing international friendlies with more structured, competitive fixtures.

The confederation’s president, Victor Montagliani, explained the benefits of the new set-up to Reuters.

“This new tournament is highly beneficial to all our member associations and fans everywhere, since it provides significant opportunities to play important competitive matches with increased regularity throughout the year,” Montagliani said.

“The biggest difference between our Nations League and the UEFA, is that their nations were already playing a significant amount of games… But for us it was to allow our countries to play a minimum amount of games over a four year window,” he continued.

He stressed that the format will be particularly useful for the smaller Caribbean nations, who don’t always have great opportunities to play meaningful games.

“Sure, some countries are not necessarily going to win the World Cup, but that is not the point. The point is that everybody deserves, the basic necessities to try to develop their game and I think this League of Nations provides a great platform for all 41 countries,” Montagliani said.

“This allows the smaller countries to participate at a minimum level which has not always been the case in the past,” he added.

Like Uefa’s initiative, the Concacaf Nations League is set to begin play in September 2018, with the details to be finalised in February.

What has been confirmed is that it will double as part of the qualifying system for the Gold Cup.