European Championship: Set for expansion
Uefa is set to announce the expansion of the European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams later this week.
The football governing body is to meet in Bordeaux on Thursday and Friday where it is expected the decision will be rubber-stamped.
An expansion - which has received almost unanimous backing - would then come into effect from 2016, but Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith acknowledges that the decision will have drawbacks.
The SFA and the Football Association of Ireland proposed the expansion in 2007, but Smith recognises that the increase in teams would mean that Scotland no longer have the neccesary stadia to host the competition.
Future
Smith said: "I think the expansion will be better for the game - more teams will have the chance of qualifying and the excitement of the groups will go on for longer.
"It is disappointing in that it means we will not be able to stage the tournament in the future, and we recognise that will be the case.
"It was a trade-off between trying to stage it or open up the qualification process and we have decided to look at something that helps everybody."
Smith, though, said the proposal had not been an attempt to make it easier for Scotland to qualify for major finals.
He added: "It will make it easier but it will make it easier for other countries such as England who failed to qualify for Euro 2008. We didn't do it specifically for that purpose however."
