UEFA will consider appeals from European coaches to increase the squad size permitted at this summer’s European Championship.
The last two major tournaments have seen nations permitted to take squads of 26 players, with the increase from 23 players for the 2021 European Championship and 2022 World Cup brought in to help teams deal with the risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic.
UEFA has reduced the squad size back to 23 players for Euro 2024, a decision which has been criticised. Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman called the change ‘absurd’, while England manager Gareth Southgate has suggested he would be in favour of a larger group.
Southgate has said he plans to name an initial larger squad before reducing numbers to the permitted amount.
“There are so many questions on injuries,” the England manager said, as per the BBC.
“It’s inevitable we’re going to be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here even though we were dealing with 26 then.”
UEFA has now confirmed that the views of coaches will be considered during a meeting scheduled for April 8.
“We have taken note of comments expressed by some national team coaches on the squad size for Euro 2024. A workshop with the participating teams will be held on 8 April and on that occasion Uefa will listen to the views of the coaches. Any idea in this respect will then be considered and assessed.”
