Euros play-offs seeds automatically getting to play 2nd leg at home

**northerncelt** · 01/12/2009, 8:56 PM

Apologies if someone else has mentioned this but apparently not only are UEFA seeding the playoffs for 2012 but the seeds will automatically play at home in the second leg. A journo on newstalk earlier said that he has confirmed this with FIFA.

WTF is all i can say if this is true!!! Platini needs a good seeing to! FAI would need to get their head out of their arses and sort this out!!

**Dodge** · 01/12/2009, 9:11 PM

Its nothing to do with FIFA. Absolutely nothing.

Vent your anger somewhere else

**northerncelt** · 01/12/2009, 9:17 PM

Make that confirmed with UEFA. Not sure what you mean by venting my anger somewhere else. Somewhere other than the Ireland forum?

**dan o d** · 01/12/2009, 9:25 PM

uefa and fifa might aswell be the one organisation

**northerncelt** · 01/12/2009, 9:29 PM

Originally Posted by dan o d

uefa and fifa might aswell be the one organisation

yeh i didnt want to go down that rd.... Probably best to point it out though as Dodge seems to think theyre in no way connected

**Riddickcule** · 01/12/2009, 9:36 PM

fecking bureaucracy...

**jbyrne** · 01/12/2009, 9:39 PM

Originally Posted by northerncelt

Apologies if someone else has mentioned this but apparently not only are UEFA seeding the playoffs for 2012 but the seeds will automatically play at home in the second leg. A journo on newstalk earlier said that he has confirmed this with FIFA.

WTF is all i can say if this is true!!! Platini needs a good seeing to! FAI would need to get their head out of their arses and sort this out!!

we proved against france that playing away 2nd makes no difference. i would have no fear of the play offs next time around. seeding is a scourge on sport though.... all should be on a level playing field

**Emmet7** · 01/12/2009, 9:42 PM

This has to be a wind up.

What next, they get to pick the ref and linemen as well?

**northerncelt** · 01/12/2009, 9:50 PM

Originally Posted by jbyrne

we proved against france that playing away 2nd makes no difference. i would have no fear of the play offs next time around. seeding is a scourge on sport though.... all should be on a level playing field

I dont think us playing well in one recent away leg changes the fact that in general its seen as better to be playing at home second. Im pretty sure the statistics would back this up but its the principle of the matter that angers me. Seeding a play-off draw is nothing short of rudiculous and I will say the same thing if we somehow manage to get ourselves into a seeded position by then.... adding another obstacle to smaller countries is really scandalous.

**northerncelt** · 01/12/2009, 9:53 PM

More immediately, the FAI will be hoping for a change of heart from UEFA on this very issue. As revealed in this newspaper last week, European football’s governing body has already decided not only to seed the play-offs for the 2012 European Championship qualifiers but to guarantee that the seeded teams will be at home in the second legs.

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...#ixzz0YTqc6aLA

**jbyrne** · 01/12/2009, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by northerncelt

More immediately, the FAI will be hoping for a change of heart from UEFA on this very issue. As revealed in this newspaper last week, European football’s governing body has already decided not only to seed the play-offs for the 2012 European Championship qualifiers but to guarantee that the seeded teams will be at home in the second legs.

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...#ixzz0YTqc6aLA

surely it would be a far better idea if the best 2nd placed team plays the 8th best and so on. it would encourage teams to play till the end of the campaign even if already secure in 2nd. would avoid horrible matches like montenegro this time around when nothing was at stake

**osarusan** · 01/12/2009, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by jbyrne

surely it would be a far better idea if the best 2nd placed team plays the 8th best and so on. it would encourage teams to play till the end of the campaign even if already secure in 2nd. would avoid horrible matches like montenegro this time around when nothing was at stake

I can see your point but from the unseeded team's point of view, they might end up wanting to lose games in order to finish 6th best, not 5th best, as 5th best plays 4th best, which is...say...an out of sorts Portuguese team, whereas 6th best will play 3rd best, which is an over-achieving...say...Bosnia.

**Murfinator** · 01/12/2009, 11:27 PM

No, it's not far but at the very least they're announcing this before the campaign begins. What FIFA did this campaign in changing the rules to benefit them was horrendous.

**peadar1987** · 02/12/2009, 12:06 AM

It depends what they mean by "seeded". If they mean that the highest scoring second placed team in the playoffs plays the lowest scoring, and so on, that's fair. You're rewarded for playing well in the qualifying group with a theoretically easier draw.

If it's done to make sure that the top teams play the weaker ones regardless of performance, then I'm totally against it.

And to osarusan, a valid point, but I think it's fairly improbable that any team will be so certain of all the possible combinations going into the last game that they will throw it, still be assured of finishing second with a certain number of points, and also still be sure that results elsewhere will go their way, just for the chance to play a team that might, on paper, be slightly weaker.

**ofjames** · 02/12/2009, 3:58 AM

this is what happens in the champions league each year at the second round phase

group winners get seeded and get second leg at home

not everything is an anti-irish conspiracy

if we turn out to be seeded you wouldnt be complaining. my problem with fifa seeding the recent playoffs was that they hadnt planned to until the last minute. i dont see how you can have any beef with seeding if those are the rules from word go

**jbyrne** · 02/12/2009, 7:52 AM

Originally Posted by ofjames

this is what happens in the champions league each year at the second round phase

group winners get seeded and get second leg at home

but that is based an the same years champions league not the past few champions lge. completely different

Originally Posted by ofjames

not everything is an anti-irish conspiracy

eh, who said the last minute seeding was a solely anti Irish conspiracy? the other unseeded teams were equally unhappy with the way it was handled

**corkboy360** · 02/12/2009, 8:27 AM

All unseeded teams should then withdraw their participation.
The world is CORRUPT!

**foureyes** · 02/12/2009, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by peadar1987

It depends what they mean by "seeded". If they mean that the highest scoring second placed team in the playoffs plays the lowest scoring, and so on, that's fair. You're rewarded for playing well in the qualifying group with a theoretically easier draw.

If it's done to make sure that the top teams play the weaker ones regardless of performance, then I'm totally against it.

it will be seeded based on the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system. this differs from the fifa world ranking. thanks to the lads in the other thread who pointed this out...