Denmark coach criticizes 24-team format at UEFA

Denmark's national football coach Morten Olsen said Monday that it was a mistake to expand from 16 to 24 the number of teams competing in the final round of the UEFA European Football Championships 2016. Olsen said the expansion risks making the tournament uninteresting, while encouraging poor athletic performance. "It is commercially a smart decision, and probably the reason for the enlargement," Olsen told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. "But I believe the Championship becomes rather diluted because of it," he added. "I know this world is all about making money, but the tournament is devalued when nearly half of all UEFA members play in the finals," Olsen said. A total of 53 countries are currently UEFA members. 24 of them will play in the final round of the championship scheduled for 2016, in France. Olsen recommended capping the number of participating teams at 16, although he admitted it would be easier for Denmark's national team to qualify were there 24 places to play for. The Danish team has already qualified for the UEFA Championship's next edition in Poland/Ukraine in summer 2012, which Olsen believes will be an exciting tournament. "Those who have qualified this time are really strong," Olsen told Jyllands-Posten. Should the Danish national team qualify for France 2016, it can expect a higher seeding than at the 2012 tournament, where it is likely to be placed in the bottom tier. Under Olsen's watch, the national team qualified for the UEFA Championship in Portugal in 2004, where the team reached the quarterfinal round, its best result yet.