BIG-TIME FOOTBALL ON THE CHAMPS ELYSEES

For a whole month the attention of football fans across the world will be focused on France, where the 15th European football championship is taking place.

This championship, among other things, will be remembered for some innovations too.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, 24 teams (previously 16), divided into six groups, are taking part in the final stage of the championship. Therefore, not two teams, but three can hope to make it into the playoff stage. However, teams ranked third in four of the six groups can count on the 1/8 finals. On the basis of the group stage of the tournament, two worst third teams will remain overboard. By the way, 1/8 finals will be held for the first time at the European Championship - before teams made it straight into the quarterfinals from the group.

The winner will receive 27m euros from UEFA, which will be a record. For comparison, Spain received 23.5m euros at Euro 2012. In general, each team participating in the final of the tournament will receive 8m euros from UEFA. Another 1 million will be added for each win and 500,000 - for a draw. For getting into the playoff teams will receive 1.5m euros, for the quarterfinals - 2.5m, the semi-finals - 4m and the final - 8m euros. Thus, the winner of the tournament can ideally get 58m euros.

Furthermore, national federations also promise good bonuses to players for winning the Euro 2016. The biggest bonus are promised by the English Football Association - 750,000 euros to each player, Belgian players can become richer by 700,000, Italy - 400,000, Spain - 340,000 and Germany - 300,000 euros.

In addition to the fans in the stands, the tournament attracts a lot of attention from viewers too. It is expected that each game of the championship will be watched by 150m people, and the whole tournament - by 8.1bn people, which exceeds the result of Euro-2012.

Also, a number of new rules have been introduced at Euro 2016. For example, after the starting whistle of the referee, the players can send the ball into any half of the field, not only forward, as was the case until now.

In addition, medical teams are allowed to assist players who receive injuries in clashes directly on the field. However, this is valid only if a player of the opposing team who broke the rules is shown the yellow or red card. The logic behind this rule is that previously, an injured player was provided with assistance outside the field, and the game went on, and in fact, the team that broke the rules got a temporary numerical superiority.

One of the main innovations of the tournament, tested for two years already, is the abolition of the "triple punishment" for a last resort foul in the penalty area. Previously, a penalty was appointed into the goal of the team that broke the rules, and the player of the team was immediately shown the red card, which is why he also missed the next match. Under the new changes, if the foul was unintentional, a penalty is appointed, and the player gets the yellow card rather than the red card.

UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina said that the organization has been working on these changes for a long time: "This decision will restore justice. A penalty, the red card and disqualification are a very severe punishment. After all, the foul in the penalty area was unintentional. The victim is entitled to a penalty in any case."

The symbol of French football, cockerel Balthazar, will not be admitted to the matches. This cockerel has been a symbol of the national team since 1998, when France became a champion. The UEFA reported the ban in a letter to the owner of Balthazar, Clement Tomaszewski. It's very upsetting for Tomaszewski, who has named his cockerels Balthazar for 20 years: "He's a symbol of the French team. If he's not allowed into the stadium, I won't go to any game."

UEFA explained its decision by possible security problems at stadiums. By the way, the emblem of the French Football Federation also depicts the Gallic rooster.

Let's take a look at the Euro 2016 teams

Group A: France, Romania, Switzerland and Albania.

France is considered the main favourite of this group. The victory in the first match with Romania with a score of 2:1 showed the ambitions of the tournament hosts. Second or third places in the group are most likely to be disputed by Romania and Switzerland. Albania, of which Karabakh player Ansi Agolli is also a player, will try to prove that they did not make it into the final of the tournament by accident. However, the defeat with a score of 0:1 in the first match with Switzerland further reduced the chances of the Balkan team.

Group B: England, Russia, Wales, Slovakia.

This group includes two British teams, which are most likely to fight for the first place in the group. Russia is fully able to engage in the fight for second or third place especially as the draw in the starting game against England (1:1) increased the chances of the Russians. Slutskiy's team now needs to beat at least Slovakia to count for third place.

Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Northern Ireland.

Germany is considered the favourite not only in the group, but in the whole championship. Many are waiting for the current world champion to succeed at Euro too. However, head coach Joachim Loew cannot count on the services of his leading players Ilkay Gundogan and Marco Reus, who did not attend the championship due to injuries. But in any case, Germany should easily get out of the group. The other teams are about the same level and any of them can hope to make it into 1/8 finals.

Group D: Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia.

Many fans in Azerbaijan are interested in this group, where Turkey's national team is represented. On the other hand, Spain, the current champion of Europe, and Azerbaijan coach Robert Prosinecki's native Croatia begin their journey in this group.

It should be noted that this is a very difficult group for Turkey, especially after losing to Croatia in the opening match, which actually took revenge for its defeat in the quarter-finals at Euro 2008. By the way, the Czech Republic is also waiting to take revenge on head coach Fatih Terim's Turkey as the Turks defeated them in the group stage in 2008.

Group E: Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Sweden.

Italy is considered to the favourite of any major tournaments. The four-time world champions and European champions have won silver medals of the continental championship twice. In 2000, they lost to France in the final, and after 12 years - to Spain.

This year they have tough opponents already in the group stage - Belgium and Sweden are quite capable of causing problems for Squadra Azzurra. And Ireland will also try to get out of the group.

Group F: Portugal, Iceland, Austria and Hungary.

Many fans do not see this group as particularly interesting. The Portuguese national team, called "European Brazilians", virtually has no equal rivals. Iceland has already overstretched itself. Austria and Hungary will try to prove that they are not tourists at Euro-2016. But in any case, the main struggle for the team led by Cristiano Ronaldo will start from the 1/8 finals.

We will know the name of the new European champion on 10 July. In the meantime, we will enjoy big-time football.