For Euro 08 draw-format-permutat ion nerds like myself

This is what Wikipedia says about the format for the tournament:

"The knockout stage is different from that of past tournaments. Teams in groups A and B will be separated from teams in groups C and D until the final. The reason for the format change is to equalise the rest periods during the knockout stage.

"However, this compromises the unpredictability of the competition, as there is, firstly, a greater chance of a group fixture being replayed in the knockout stage; and secondly, the impossibility of a final between two teams drawn in the same half of the tournament.

"Also, in another major change, for the first time in a European Championship, only two venues (St. Jakob-Park, Basel and Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna) will be used for the seven matches in the knockout stage of the tournament."

Hmmm - so the reason (as I suspected) is to 'equalise rest periods'? But hang on - there's more to this: the winners of group A (should they reach the final) would play three post-group games in 11 games, while Group D's top team could play three in eight.

Hardly 'equalised' - just better than it might have been.

The nub of the problem is that they are playing one quarter-final per day - or, more pertinently, per evening. Good for TV (of course), but hugely unfair to some teams were the draw to have been more random - there could have been some huge discrepancies in the amount of rest days.

They are also (quite bizarrely) playing all the knockout games in only two stadia - another reason to stretch out the QFs then? Give more time for the nackered pitches?

So, in summary, the randomness of the draw appears to have been sacrificed: 1) because there aren't enough stadiums big enough and 2) most importantly, to satisfy tv audiences/execs. Every knockout game in the evening, maximum viewing potential and another (albeit small) example of something good about football (the randomness of draws) f*cked up the @rse for all time.

Posted By: The Judge, Jun 11, 19:52:20