UEFA are set to clear up West Ham and Anderlecht confusion before Friday afternoon’s Europa Conference League last 16 draw.
The Hammers discovered the eight teams they could face in next month’s two-legged last 16 European clash last night after the conclusion of the play-off matches.
Italian sides Fiorentina and Lazio, Swiss outfit Basel, AEK Larnaca of Cyprus, Lech Poznan of Poland, Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol and Belgian duo Gent and Anderlecht all won to seal their place in the last 16.
West Ham won’t have to wait long to find out which of those clubs they will face with the draw taking place on Friday from 12pm at the House of European Football – UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
However there has been conflicting information from West Ham over whether we can be drawn against Anderlecht, who were in the Hammers’ group.
After winning the group with ease and qualifying for the last 16 back in November, West Ham published an article on its official website with information about the knockout stages. Headlined ‘In it to win it – UEFA Conference League round-up’ the club stated in the article they could not be drawn against Anderlecht in the last 16.
But as highlighted by Hammers News yesterday afternoon, the only restriction involves national associations which prevent two sides from the same country/league being drawn against each other at this stage. With West Ham the sole remaining Premier League team left in the competition, that does not come into play.
West Ham deleted that November article last night, though, and published a new piece which states: “There is nothing in place to prevent us facing Anderlecht again, even though we were in the same group.”
That may not actually be the case, though.
UEFA are set to clear up West Ham and Anderlecht confusion before the Europa Conference League last 16 draw.
For UEFA’s top competition the Champions League their rules clearly state: “Clubs cannot face opponents they met during the group stage.”
And most media outlets highlight that is the case in the Europa League too (The Mirror).
The reason the Champions League rule is not explicitly mentioned in the official Europa League and Conference League draw guideline is because those tournaments feature teams who drop out from the competition above at the play-off stage. So the format is therefore different.
Those dropouts tend to be favourites to advance to the last 16 at the expense of the group stage runners-up.
So instead UEFA put a caveat in their information stating they will “announce any other restrictions before the draw takes place”.
Therefore it may still transpire that West Ham were right in the first place and will be restricted from facing Anderlecht in the last 16.
All will be made clear by UEFA when they discuss any restrictions before the draw is made this afternoon, which you can watch on the competition’s official website by following this link.
Winning the Conference League would guarantee West Ham European football for a third successive season as they would automatically qualify for the Europa League for the 2023/24 campaign.
Everything West Ham fans need to know about the Europa Conference League last-16 draw:
When and where? The draw will be held at 1pm CET (12pm GMT) on Friday February 24 at the House of European Football at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
How? The eight Europa Conference League group-stage winners will be seeded. The winners of the knockout-round play-off winners will be unseeded. The only restriction involves national associations – no two sides from the same territory can be drawn against each other at this stage. With West Ham the sole remaining English team left in the competition, they could face any of the unseeded teams. UEFA says it will announce any other restrictions before the draw takes place.
Who else qualified as group winners? Nice, AZ, Slovan Bratislava, Villarreal, Djurgardens IF, Istanbul Basaksehir and Sivasspor joined West Ham in advancing straight to the last 16 by topping their respective groups.
When will the games be played? The first legs of the last 16 will be played on March 9, and the second legs will be played on March 16, a week later. West Ham’s other reward for winning their group is that they get to play the second leg at home.
When is the quarter-final draw? The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on March 17, a day after the second legs of the last 16. The first legs will be played on April 13, and the second legs will be played a week later on April 20.
What are the other Europa Conference League knockout match dates? Quarter and semi-final draw: March 17, Quarter-finals: April 13 and 20, Semi-finals: May 11 and 18, Final: June 7.
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