Scotland's clubs will receive an extra place in the UEFA Cup in 2009/10, the Scottish Premier League have revealed.
Scotland
will have at least four teams in European competition next season, and
Hibernian would join Celtic, Rangers, Motherwell and Queen of the South
if they qualify through the Intertoto Cup. There will be a guaranteed
five the following season as the Intertoto Cup will be replaced with an
additional qualifying round in the UEFA Cup.
SPL secretary Iain
Blair said: "The UEFA Cup will start in June and participation is
mandatory, whereas the Intertoto had previously been voluntary."
He added: "If a team don't want to start their season in June or early July, they no longer have a choice."
Scotland
will retain its two Champions League slots and Blair revealed that the
Scottish Cup winners will continue to enter the UEFA Cup in the round
before the group stage.<
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