Ireland are currently on the brink of securing a place in the World Cup play-offs, with the games against Finland and Slovakia over the next couple of weeks set to determine whether they can secure second place in their qualifying group.
It is an incredible opportunity for Ireland, with the national having never qualified for a major tournament in women's football. They certainly won't want to let it pass them by, especially when you consider that qualification campaigns could be about to get a lot more difficult.
In an effort to tackle the lopsided scorelines that we have seen in the women's game over the last number of years, UEFA are proposing a radical change to the way qualifying will work moving forward.
It will essentially see the creation of a two-tier system, one that will separate the top 16 nations from the rest. The tier-two and tier-three teams will then play a campaign among themselves, only to then face into a play-off against an opposition of much higher quality for a place in a tournament.
Ireland would not benefit from such a move, as they would be largely playing against inferior opponents before then taking on a team of real quality with qualification on the line.
Vera Pauw criticises proposed UEFA qualification changes
Speaking at yesterday's squad announcement, Vera Pauw summed up why such a move would make qualifying for tournaments 'virtually impossible' for Ireland.
Yes, that’s true, virtually impossible.
There's plans to create a first, second and third tier in the next qualification campaign, which would be detrimental for the development of the game.
I think we should focus on that at the moment from a policy point of view, but Jonathan Hill is dealing with that.
The plans are, you'd have a first tier with the first 16 countries based on the UEFA coefficient, not including friendly games, which would put for example Ireland, but also Scotland and Wales, into the second tier.
The [winner] of the group in the second tier, after playing for two years in the lower level, would have to play a play-off with the number two team in the top tier, without having the opportunities to play friendly games [against the strongest nations].
That means the chance to qualify will be minimised instead of being opened for the second tier. The top teams will grow away from the rest, and that [will hurt] development of the game.
26 August 2022; Manager Vera Pauw during a Republic of Ireland women squad announcement at Sky Ireland Headquarters in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ireland have come on in leaps and bounds in recent times, coming agonisingly close to qualifying for the Euros and are now very much in the hunt of the World Cup.
A large part of their development came via playing friendly games against quality opposition, something that would be very difficult to arrange under the proposed new system.
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While Ireland have improved massively, they are still lagging well behind the teams with the largest amounts of money at their disposal. Pauw said the effects of this are already being seen, but she is worried that the financial disparity in the game is only going to grow larger as the years go on.
The key thing is that the Euros was a reflection of the money. It’s a pity that in our game the big money goes to the top, the second tier is forgotten and the third tier gets support to develop into the second level. That is something we are going to discuss.
England has the best league with the most money, Germany is the second with the most money, and then the third is France with the most money. That is what it is at this moment. You could say it is the same in the men's game also but the women's game has not developed yet to a stage where it can take care of itself.
The associations need to take care of the second tier. The ones with average money don't get anything. The ones with no money get support. That is the situation.
This is something awaiting on the horizon, but for now Vera Pauw and Ireland will be very much focused on the current campaign.
A victory over Finland in their sold out fixture at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday evening would secure a World Cup play-off, with anything less meaning a result will be required in Slovakia a few days later.
It is certainly set to be an exciting end to the group.
SEE ALSO: Vera Pauw Hopes Ireland Will Thrive Under Pressure Ahead Of Crunch Finland Qualifier
