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During the meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee that took place in Rome on Wednesday, a new format for the UEFA Intertoto Cup was adopted, which will come into effect from the next season.
Currently, teams in this tournament must go through five stages and only three strongest clubs remain, earning the right to compete in the UEFA Cup. This season, this was achieved by the teams of "Hamburger," "Marseille," and "Lens."
Starting from the next season, the Intertoto Cup competition will consist of not five, but only three stages. After these stages, the top 11 teams will immediately earn the right to compete in the UEFA Cup. However, they will have to start their journey from the second qualification stage and continue to strive to advance to the main UEFA Cup competition.
It is worth noting that the teams participating in the Intertoto Cup are those that have not been able to secure places in national championships that allow them to compete in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup tournaments.
This year, Vilnius' "Žalgiris," which participated in this tournament, set a record for Lithuanian clubs by reaching the semi-finals and only losing to Kluj's "Ecomax" team from Romania with a combined score of 7-2.
