UEFA changes name of Europa Conference League

UEFA has announced that they will be changing the name of the Europa Conference League in the future. The governing body of the sport in Europe officially made the decision on Wednesday. The third-tiered tournament only has two seasons under its belt.

The competition is dropping ‘Europa’ from the title. Instead, it will be the UEFA Conference League. However, this is not exactly an immediate change. The governing body is officially altering the name of the tournament ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Name change differentiates Europa Conference League

“Research amongst fans as well as commercial partners has found that removing ‘Europa’ from the name of the competition will enable further development as a stand-alone competition and this proposed change was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee,” the organization said in a statement on Wednesday. “It will be effective in the new cycle, as of the 2024/25 season.”

“Together with the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League will continue to deliver ‘Thursday Night Football’ to fans across Europe and beyond. A strong link between the competitions will remain in place as both brand identities will remain very close, and both competitions will continue to be sold to broadcast partners and sponsors together.”

Mourinho has tattoo of Conference League trophy

Currently, Roma and West Ham are the only two teams to win the tournament. Roma, under manager Jose Mourinho, beat Feyenoord in the final back in May of 2022. After that, and to commemorate the victory, the Portuguese coach had the Conference League trophy inked on his arm. The piece of silverware sits next to tattoos of his previous Champions League and Europa League triumphs as well.

Then, West Ham collected the most recent Conference League title in early June. The Hammers narrowly defeated Fiorentina in the final to collect their first trophy in over 40 years.

Along with renaming the competition, UEFA also confirms the venues for the next two tournament finals. Athens is hosting the 2024 Conference League final, while the 2025 version goes to Poland.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Action Plus