Teams at the European Championship can name three extra players in 26-man squads after UEFA agreed to amend the tournament rules Friday.
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman and England’s Gareth Southgate were among those asking UEFA to let them select more players for the June 14-July 14 tournament and help deal with injuries in the squad.
Tournament squad sizes had long been 23 players but were increased to 26 by UEFA for Euro 2020, which was postponed and played the next year, and by FIFA for the 2022 World Cup to better deal with COVID-19 issues in the delegation.
The larger squads will stay for the 24 teams at post-pandemic Euro 2024 in Germany.
“The increase does not represent an obligation for the participating national associations,” UEFA said in a statement.
Adding up to 72 extra places on the collective tournament roster should lower the daily rate UEFA pays to clubs for releasing their players to national team duty at Euro 2024.
UEFA agreed with the European Club Association to set aside 140 million euros ($150 million) from total tournament revenue of more than 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) to distribute among clubs whose players are selected for the finals tournament. A further 100 million euros ($108 million) was allocated to clubs whose players were selected for Euro 2024 qualifying games and Nations League games.
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After Euro 2020, Chelsea got the largest payment of 5.1 million euros ($5.5 million) from a UEFA club benefits total fund of 200 million euros ($216 million).
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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