UEFA All-Star Weekend in European football

by Pawel Dimow

Dear colleagues, I have finally decided to publish my first article on LinkedIn and I will begin with a topic which has been occupying my thoughts for many years. I would like to present a concept for an All-Star Weekend in European football and would be very happy to hear your opinions. The article will be quite long but I hope that some of you will manage to go through it :) So, let's start!

Sports fans enjoy watching star players in action and the presence of such players in a game guarantees high level of interest. Noticing that fact, the Americans created a concept called "All-Star Game" in the 1930s and are still enjoying the benefits it brings. The first such game was organized by the Major League Baseball in 1933 and as it turned out to be a great success, it was soon adopted by the other American professional sports leagues. Later, the All-Star Game spread around the world and became a must-see event for millions of sports fans.

The concept of organizing exhibition matches featuring star players from different clubs and countries is not unfamiliar to European football, too. These matches, however, have own regulations and differ from each other. Usually, they are not played on a regular basis (although there are some annual ones) and are generally organized for social and charity purposes, or as a farewell game of retiring star players. The success of these games shows that staging a regular All-Star Game in European football should be considered by UEFA. Interestingly, the governing body of European football already supports a similar “Match Against Poverty”, which regularly features the two retired stars and Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development Programme Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo as well as other famous names.

UEFA All-Star Game

In order to attract large global interest, the UEFA All-Star Game should involve the best and most popular football players who compete in Europe. In my opinion, the best format of the match is Europe vs. Rest of the World. This means that a team comprising Europe-based players who are eligible to play for a European national team will face a team of players who play for European clubs but are eligible to represent a non-European national team. A couple of years ago, media wrote that UEFA is considering an All-Star Game concept which will feature North Europe vs. South Europe. I am not a fan of this format as I think that the division of Europe into North and South is quite artificial.

As the designation “All-Star Game” is well known globally and has a very positive reputation, UEFA may brand the event “UEFA All-Star Game”.

The UEFA All-Star Game will be an event designed especially for the football fans around the globe and they should receive the opportunity to vote for the players they want to see in it. The voting can be conducted under the following rules:

• Using the classic 4-4-2 formation (1 goalkeeper, 1 left back, 2 centre backs, 1 right back, 1 left winger, 2 central midfielders, 1 right winger and 2 forwards), fans will select a First Team and a Second Team for both Europe and Rest of the World on uefa.com. Each fan will be allowed to submit only one selection of 22 Europe players and one selection of 22 Rest of the World players. Players will receive 3 points for every selection in the First Team and 1 point for every selection in the Second Team. The points total as well as geographical and nationality criteria will determine which players will make the official UEFA All-Star Teams.
• Fans will make their selections on uefa.com from 2 lists of European and non-European players based in Europe. The lists will include the best players of the current season and will be prepared by a UEFA panel of experts. Each list will contain 55 players – 5 goalkeepers, 5 left backs, 10 centre backs, 5 right backs, 5 left wingers, 10 central midfielders, 5 right wingers and 10 forwards. Similarly to the voting for the uefa.com users’ Team of the Year, every player on the list should have a short description of his qualities and achievements. It is important to have players from more countries in the UEFA All-Star Game and in order to achieve this diversity, fans will only have the opportunity to take a maximum of 4 players from one country in their 22-man selections. And the maximum number of players that a country can have in the official 22-man All-Star Team will be 4.
• It is well known that vast majority of the star footballers of non-European nationality who play in European football clubs come from South America and Africa. However, in order to attract the attention of fans, sponsors and media from all the continents, geographical criteria should be introduced. I suggest that the 55-player Rest of the World All-Star list should have at least 14 players from South America (CONMEBOL), 8 from Africa (CAF), 4 from North and Central America (CONCACAF), 4 from Asia (AFC) and 2 from Oceania (OFC). Fans will need to select at least 6 players from South America, 4 from Africa, 2 from North and Central America and 2 from Asia in their Rest of the World All-Star selection and the official Rest of the World All-Star Team should have at least 6 players from South America, 4 from Africa, 2 from North and Central America and 2 from Asia. As Australia is now an AFC member and the number of Oceania footballers who play in Europe is very low, fans will not be obliged to select an Oceania player in their selection.
• It should be analyzed what candidates we have for each position. If there are many stars at a certain position and not so many at another one, some players can be moved from their main position to their secondary position.
• Fans will also select the coaches of Europe and Rest of the World All-Star Teams on uefa.com. For this purpose, a UEFA panel of experts will prepare 2 lists with 10 European and 10 non-European coaches who work in Europe and enjoy the most success in the current season. The coaches with most fan votes on both lists will coach the two teams in the UEFA All-Star Game.
• Furthermore, fans will also decide who will be the referee of the UEFA All-Star Game. They will make their choice from a list which will contain the names of the top 10 European referees and will be prepared by a UEFA panel of experts. The leading vote-getter will be awarded with the honour to referee the UEFA All-Star Game. Such voting would be quite interesting as it will show which referees are the most liked and respected by the fans.
• In order to reduce the workload on the players, the first teams will play in the first half and the second teams will perform after the break. As a result, every footballer will only see 45 minutes of action (in case there are no injuries). If we have a draw at the end of second half, the winner will be decided by a classic penalty shootout.
• In my opinion, the UEFA All-Star Game should be organized in the last weekend of May or in the first weekend of June as an official closing event of the European football season. I suggest to move the UEFA Champions League final back to Wednesday and do the UEFA All-Star Game on Sunday, 4 days later.

In order to present what kind of players would participate in the UEFA All-Star Game and how attractive it would be, I am attaching my own selection of the two All-Star Teams for the 2016/17 season (injuries and player transfers in the 2017 summer transfer window are not considered):

Europe All-Star First Team

Europe All-Star Second Team

Head coach: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)

Rest of the World All-Star First Team

Rest of the World All-Star Second Team

Head coach: Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)

The above selection is not only based on the form of the players in the current season but also on their global popularity. Some players may not be in their best form but thanks to their popularity they would still be selected by the fans.

Due to the introduction of the geographical and nationality criteria, there will not be enough place for some big South American stars who enjoyed a great 2016/17 season and are widely considered among the very best non-European players playing in Europe. Such players are Alexis Sánchez, Paulo Dybala, Sergio Agüero, Edinson Cavani, Philippe Coutinho, etc. However, as I stated before, it is really important for the Rest of the World All-Star Team to have multiple players from Africa, Asia, North and Central America, even though these players might not be as good and successful as some of the South American stars who will be left out of the squad.

UEFA U21 All-Star Game

The UEFA All-Star Game will be played in the evening of Sunday but it will not be the only football event during the weekend in the host city. In order to maximize its economic and social effect, the UEFA All-Star Game can be accompanied by supporting football activities and events which will start on Friday evening and last until Sunday evening. This period of time will be branded as “UEFA All-Star Weekend” and its second major event will be the “UEFA U21 All-Star Game”. This match will be played on Saturday evening and will be conducted under the same rules as the UEFA All-Star Game with the difference that it will feature only players who are 21 years old or younger. More precisely, to be eligible to play in the UEFA U21 All-Star Game in 2017, players need to be born on or after 1 January 1996.

Similarly to the UEFA All-Star Game voting, fans will select their Europe and Rest of the World teams for the UEFA U21 All-Star Game from 55-player lists on uefa.com and the same position, geographical and nationality criteria will be applied.

The two coaches who have finished as runners-up in the voting for the UEFA All-Star Game will coach the Europe U21 and Rest of the World U21 Al-Star Teams. Similarly, the referee with second most votes will take over the UEFA U21 All-Star Game.

As the UEFA U21 All-Star Game will feature an impressive cast of young stars such as Kylian Mbappé, Delle Ali, Ousmane Dembélé or Marcus Rashford, I believe it will be a very entertaining one and very well accepted by the football fans worldwide. Below I present my selection of the two teams for the 2017 UEFA U21 All-Star Game:

Europe U21 All-Star First Team

Europe U21 All-Star Second Team

Head coach: Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus)

Rest of the World U21 All-Star First Team

Rest of the World U21 All-Star Second Team

Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspur)

UEFA Veterans All-Star Game

The third pillar of the UEFA All-Star Weekend will be a match featuring star players from the near past. It will be played on Friday evening and will be branded as “UEFA Veterans All-Star Game”. In order to improve the quality of football in this match, the participating players should have finished their professional careers recently and should be in a similar good physical condition. For this purpose, age restrictions will be introduced. All players need to be born in a 5-year period of time and should be aged between 36 and 41. For the 2017 UEFA Veterans All-Star Game, the eligible players should be born between 1 January 1976 and 31 December 1980. Furthermore, they should have ended their professional careers in the previous season at the latest. Setting the 36-41 age restriction means that every year there will be changes in the squads as some of the players will no longer be eligible for selection while others will become eligible. Refreshing the teams every year is vital in order to keep the high interest in the UEFA Veterans All-Star Game in the long term.

As it is the case with the UEFA All-Star Game and UEFA U21 All-Star Game, fans will select their Veterans All-Star Teams from two 55-player lists posted on uefa.com. The same position, geographical and nationality criteria will be applied for the UEFA Veterans All-Star Game, too.

Only retired non-European players who have played professionally for European clubs for at least 3 full seasons will be eligible for selection in the Rest of the World Veterans All-Star Team.

The two coaches who have finished third in the voting for the UEFA All-Star Game will coach the Europe Veterans and Rest of the World Veterans. Similarly, the referee with third most votes will be appointed to officiate the UEFA Veterans All-Star Game.

Both Europe and Rest of the World veteran teams will have plenty of fan favourites in their ranks and the match between them should attract significant global interest. In order to demonstrate what kind of players will play in the 2017 UEFA Veterans All-Star Game, I am attaching my selection of the two teams:

Europe Veterans All-Star First Team

Europe Veterans All-Star Second Team

Head coach: Carlo Ancelotti (Bayern Munich)

Rest of the World Veterans All-Star First Team

Rest of the World Veterans All-Star First Team

Head coach: Eduardo Berizzo (Sevilla)

In order to focus the whole football attention on the UEFA All-Star Weekend and maximize the profits from its organization, no other domestic top flight matches should be played in Europe during that weekend. Anyway, the vast majority of the European leagues will be completed before the UEFA All-Star Weekend.

Arguments in favour of the UEFA All-Star Weekend

I believe that an annual UEFA All-Star Weekend will largely benefit European football and will try to point out the major arguments in its favour:

• The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was broadcast in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages. Basketball, similarly to football, is a sport which is very popular around the globe and the world’s best basketball players play in North America while the world’s best footballers play in Europe. NBA smartly uses the global popularity of its stars and collects huge profits from the organization of the NBA All-Star Game which has become one of the most popular basketball events in the world. In my opinion, thanks to the larger global popularity of football, the UEFA All-Star Game has the potential to become an even bigger global success than the NBA All-Star Game.
• The UEFA All-Star Weekend with the best footballers of the past, present and future will be a wonderful occasion to promote football on a global scale. It will also increase the global interest in European football and its major international competitions – UEFA EURO, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
• Currently, the most popular and profitable football games organized by UEFA are the final matches of the Champions League and the European Championship. In my opinion, the UEFA All-Star Game accompanied by a clever marketing campaign may come close to these games or even surpass them in terms of attracting global audience and generating profits. It should be a great success especially in South America as the Rest of the World team will be logically comprised mostly of players from this continent (Brazil and Argentina in particular). UEFA can benefit from the fact that football is something like a religion in this part of the world and football rivalry with Europe is always something special for the local fans. Furthermore, the fact that every continent will be represented by at least two players will contribute to the global popularity of the UEFA All-Star Game.
• Numerous high-profile companies will be willing to pay significant fees for the right to be UEFA Official Partners for the UEFA All-Star Game. Television channels will also be ready to spend a lot of money for the broadcasting rights as the UEFA All-Star Game will attract an enormous global audience.
• The UEFA All-Star Game will generate considerable gate revenues as no matter where it is played, the stadium will probably always be full. Further income from the sale of tickets will come from the UEFA U23 All-Star Game and the UEFA Veteran All-Star Game.
• Profits can also be made from selling licensed products like shirts, caps, balls (a new official UEFA All-Star ball should be produced every year), computer games and many other items with the UEFA All-Star Game logo.
• UEFA.com will receive huge traffic when fans from all over the world will be selecting the players they want to see during the UEFA All-Star Weekend. 649,701 users of the official website of the governing body of European football submitted their votes to determine their Team of the Year 2016 and I expect this number to be much higher when it comes to selecting the All-Star players. By voting for their Team of the Year, fans vote for a team on paper (a team they will never see in action) while by voting for the All-Star teams, fans will know that they are creating real teams which will soon perform for them. That is why I think the fans will be even more interested in voting for the All-Star Teams rather than for their Team of the Year, which is a great initiative, too. The voting for the UEFA All-Star Weekend participants will attract many new users to uefa.com and due to the high quality of the website there is a good chance that a significant percentage of these new users will become regular ones. Furthermore, some of the current uefa.com users may start visiting the website more often.
• The UEFA All-Star Game will have a great success especially among the children, who will be absolutely delighted to participate in the selection of the squads and watch a match that will feature so many of their favourite star players. Such a game will strengthen and increase the passion and love of the kids for the game of football.
• Nowadays, we often hear complaints that the football fixtures are overloaded and the idea of launching a new football event may face an opposition. Let me remind that from the 1999/00 until the 2002/03 season we had a UEFA Champions League with 2 group stages. Back then, elite clubs played 4 more matchdays than they do now with the current format of the competition (6 group matches instead of the present double-leg Round of 16). As we are now having 4 less matchdays in the UEFA Champions League, we will be able to find time and integrate the UEFA All-Star Weekend into the current international football schedule.
• Footballers will only play 45 minutes in the All-Star Game and they will not be overtired from participating in it. As the 3 All-Star matches will be mainly for fun, the risk of picking up an injury will also be significantly lower.
• The UEFA All-Star Game will be a wonderful occasion for many football people from around the world to gather together in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere.
• A large part of the revenues generated by the UEFA All-Star Weekend should be used for charity and social purposes like helping former footballers who are now ill or live in poverty, developing football projects in the poorer European countries, promoting football and education among children and young people, etc. Such noble initiatives will increase the popularity of UEFA and will further strengthen the excellent image of the organization.

I am looking forward to hearing your opinions about this UEFA All-Star Weekend concept :) Would you like to see an annual All-Star Game in European football or you are not a fan of it?

Thanks a lot!

Pawel