33rd Ordinary UEFA Congress in Copenhagen 03 11 ... - UEFA.com

UEFA-pjwoods.chThe president,Michel Platini,presentedUEFA’s guidingprinciples.cast (strategic financial outlook) forthe period from 2008/09 to 2013/14,as presented by the UEFA general secretary,David Taylor, remains positive.Under the financial part ofthe agenda, the 2007/08 accountsand 2009/10 budget were approved.Brief reports on the activitiesof the UEFA standing committeesduring the period under review werepresented, in video form.Information was also providedabout the HatTrick programme,which moved into its second cycle(2008–12) last year.HatTrick II has three components:an investment programme,solidarity payments and an educationDanny Jordaan updated the congresson preparations for the FIFA World Cupin South Africa.programme. Each national associationcan apply for EUR 2.5 million forinvestment projects and a maximumof EUR 1.3 million per year by wayof solidarity payments. In addition,EUR 25 million is reserved for education,which includes KISS, the Knowledgeand Information Sharing Scenario.Since HatTrick II got under way, 47investment projects have been approvedfor a total amount of EUR 50 million.The most awaited moment ofthe afternoon was, of course, the electionsfor the UEFA Executive Committee.These were followed by the nominationof four honorary members.UEFA-pjwoods.chd i n g p r i n c i p l e ssport brings to society as a whole.And it is also because the strength offootball lies in its grass roots that wehave to preserve the local, regionaland national identities of our game,always in accordance with the law.6 ● Youth protectionand educationAs governing body ofEuropean football, UEFA has both asporting and a moral responsibility.The international transfer of minorsentails many risks. Let’s not forgetthat players under the age of 18 arechildren or adolescents. We want toprotect the future of children in footballand stop them being uprootedto foreign countries when they aremuch too young.7 ● Sporting integrity and bettingBetting is a source of fundingbut also a risk for football, especiallyto the integrity of competitions. It isonly right that football obtains its fairshare of income from betting. However,our primary focus must continue tobe a total commitment to protectingsporting integrity and the properrunning of our competitions, in orderto preserve the spirit of our game.8 ● Financial fair play andregularity of competitionsUEFA supports fair play bothon and off the pitch. Financial fairplay means that clubs operate transparentlyand responsibly, to protectboth sporting competition and theclubs themselves. Financial fair playmeans clubs not getting into a spiralof debt to compete with their rivalsbut rather competing with theirown means, i.e. the resources theygenerate.9 ● National teams and clubsNational team and clubfootball are vital and complementaryelements of football. UEFA will remaincommitted to ensuring that this balanceis maintained and even strengthened,as the development of ourgame at national, European and internationallevel depends on it.10 ● RespectRespect is a key principleof football. It implies respect forthe game, integrity, diversity, dignity,players’ health, rules, the referee, opponentsand supporters. Our message isclear: zero tolerance of racism, violenceand doping. Football unites people andtranscends differences. The colour ofthe skin is invisible under the jersey andfor UEFA this will always be so. Racismand any other forms of discriminationwill never be tolerated. UEFA will nottolerate violence either on the pitch orin the stands. Football must set anexample.11 ● European sports model andspecificity of sportUEFA is a European body andwe remain totally committed to theEuropean model of sport, a model characterisedby promotion and relegation,the solidarity principle, as well as opencompetitions and opportunity for all.This is what sport – and especially football– is all about. We have to protectthis model because sport is not a businesslike any other and we cannot allowit to be treated as such. We will continueto defend the specificity of sport andare convinced that our arguments willprevail for the good of football.05

UEFA-pjwoods.chThree UEFA honorarymembers attendedthe congress: (from left)Jean Fournet-Fayard,Gerhard Aignerand Lennart Johansson.Four new honorary membersOn the recommendation of the Executive Committee, as presentedby the UEFA president, the UEFA Congress conferred the title of honorarymember on four former members of the UEFA Executive Committee.Per Omdal (Norway) was electedto the Executive Committee in 1992and held the office of vice-president from1996 to 2007. He did not stand forre-election this year. He also served as amember of the FIFA Executive Committeefrom 1992 to 2002.“My best memories,” he said,“are from the ten years when I led thework of the EEAB [East European Assis-IN BRIEF■ All 53 UEFA member associationswere represented at the 33rd OrdinaryUEFA Congress.■ In addition to ViacheslavKoloskov, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder andPer Omdal, one other member of theExecutive Committee did not stand forre-election: Franco Carraro (Italy), whowas elected in 2004.■ For the first time, for the sakeof transparency, the ballot papers werecounted in the congress hall in view ofthe cameras, which showed the scrutineersat work on the giant screen.■ Danny Jordaan, CEO of the2010 World Cup Organising Committee,made a presentation on how preparationsin South Africa were progressing.It was a timely presentation, giventhat the qualifiers resumed a coupleof days later.■ The FIFA Ordinary Congress willtake place in Nassau in the Bahamason 2/3 June. On 1 June, UEFA memberassociations will hold a preparatorymeeting.■ Tel Aviv will be the venue forthe 34th Ordinary UEFA Congress on25 March 2010.UEFA-pjwoods.chtance Bureau], which comprised tennational football associations thatemerged from the break-up of the USSR,plus Albania. The situation was verydifficult because we had to start fromscratch in every area, such as grassrootsfootball, TV contracts and transfers.Our joints efforts were fruitful, whichwas really rewarding.”Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia)was elected to the UEFA Executive Committeein 1994 and was also on the FIFAExecutive Committee, which he servedas a vice-president from 1980 to 1996,then as a member from 1996 to 1998and from 2000 to 2009. At the UEFACongress in Copenhagen, he stood downfrom both committees.“The right to represent Russiafor 15 years on the Executive Committee,”he said, “has been a greathonour. During that time, I had the goodfortune to work under the presidencyof some outstanding personalities:Jacques Georges, Lennart Johanssonand Michel Platini.“I believe that UEFA’s decisionto hold a UEFA Champions League finaland a UEFACup final inMoscow was asign of its trustin the RussianFootball Union.And I hopethat Russialived up to theexpectations.“Overthe years, I haveworked on different committees, inclose cooperation with UEFA directors,and I would like to express my deepgratitude to them for the professionalismand loyalty that I have alwaysenjoyed.“My term of office as a UEFAExecutive Committee member has expired,but my life in football will go on.”UEFA-pjwoods.chGiangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland)was elected as a member of the UEFAExecutive Committee in 1994 and servedthree terms, up to 2007. He was then aco-opted member until last June.“Myfondest memoriesof my timeon the ExecutiveCommittee are,without anydoubt, of seeingchildren having alovely time playing football at the minipitchinaugurations I attended.”Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder(Germany) joined the UEFA ExecutiveCommittee in 2000 and finished hissecond term this year. He served as a vicepresidentfrom 2007. He has also servedtwo separate terms on the FIFA ExecutiveCommittee, from 1992 to 1998 andfrom 2002 to 2006.“The years I spent on the ExecutiveCommittee were a very positive experience:we shared our views in opendiscussions. Worthy of mention is the factthat following the election of MichelPlatini as UEFA president, relations withFIFA improved and we are now on thesame wavelength.”■ Up to the congress in Copenhagen,there were 15 UEFA honorarymembers, including two honorary presidents,Jacques Georges † and LennartJohansson, together with GerhardAigner, Hans Bangerter, Sandor Barcs,Egidius Braun, Des Casey, Jos. Coler †,José Crahay †, Jean Fournet-Fayard,Artemio Franchi †, Sir Bert Millichip †,Sir Stanley Rous †, Nikolay Ryashentsev †and Lucien Schmidlin †.UEFA-pjwoods.chUEFA-pjwoods.ch06 uefadirect 5.09

Amicale desanciens and Orderof MeritAmong the guests at thecongress in Copenhagen were manymembers of the Amicale des anciens(circle of former UEFA committeemembers). Members have to haveserved on UEFA committees for atleast 12 years and no longer be inactive service.In Copenhagen, seven committeemembers were honoured forhaving achieved 12 years of serviceon UEFA committees:■ Jim Boyce (Northern Ireland),David Collins (Wales), Jacques Liénard(France), Michal Listkiewicz (Poland),Vlatko Markovic (Croatia), Volker Roth(Germany) and Rudolf Zavrl (Slovenia).On the awards side, the UEFAOrder of Merit was conferred on:■ Leszek Rylski (Poland) andVictor Ponedelnik (Russia) – Order ofMerit in ruby■ Nodar Akhalkatsi Sr (Georgia,posthumously), Eddie Barry (NorthernIreland), Eduard Malofeev (Belarus),Ante Pavlovic (Croatia) and Sir BobbyRobson (England) – Order of Meritin emerald.Michel Platini presents an Order of Meritin ruby to Leszek Rylski, member ofthe UEFA Executive Committee from 1956to 1964 and from 1966 to 1968.UEFA-pjwoods.chUEFA-pjwoods.chSeven new faces on theExecutive CommitteeAs a result of the four members retiring, the death ofMathieu Sprengers and the increase in membership from 14to 16, the UEFA Executive Committee was set for a significantinjection of new blood.There were 12 candidates for the 9 seats available and ittook only one ballot for eight of them to achieve an absolutemajority (27 votes or more):Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus, standing for re-election),50 votesTheo Zwanziger (Germany), 47 votesGiancarlo Abete (Italy), 45 votesGeoffrey Thompson (England, standing for re-election),43 votesAllan Hansen (Denmark), 40 votes,Frantisek Laurinec (Slovakia), 36 votesMichael van Praag (Netherlands), 34 votesAbraham Luzon (Israel), 28 votesIn the second ballot, requiring only a simple majority,Liutauras Varanavicius (Lithuania) received 22 votes, aheadof the three other candidates, Nodar Akhalkatsi (Georgia),Peter Rees (Wales) and Tomás Gea (Andorra).The first eight are elected for four-year terms and theninth for two years.Shortly after the congress, the new UEFA ExecutiveCommittee held a brief constitutive meeting, the outcomeof which was as follows:President: Michel Platini; first vice-president: Senes Erzik;second vice-president: Geoffrey Thompson; third vicepresident:Angel María Villar Llona; fourth vice-president:Marios N. Lefkaritis; fifth vice-president: Joseph Mifsud.Members: Giancarlo Abete, Allan Hansen, Frantisek Laurinec,Abraham Luzon, Gilberto Madaíl, Mircea Sandu, GrigoriySurkis, Liutauras Varanavicius, Michael van Praag and TheoZwanziger.FIFA Executive CommitteeThe UEFA Congress delegates also had to elect four Europeanmembers of the FIFA Executive Committee. Three ofthe outgoing members were standing for re-election:Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey) andMarios N. Lefkaritis (Cyprus).Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia) had decided not to standfor re-election and his compatriot Vitaly Mutko was the onlyother candidate.The congress therefore elected the four candidates byacclamation, each for four-year terms.UEFA-pjwoods.chMarios LefkaritisTheo ZwanzigerGiancarlo AbeteGeoffrey ThompsonAllan HansenFrantisek LaurinecMichael van PraagAbraham LuzonMoeller/Bongarts/Getty Images UEFA-pjwoods.chSportsfileUEFA-pjwoods.chUEFA-pjwoods.chSportsfile IFAUEFA-pjwoods.chSportsfileLiutauras Varanavicius07

Getty ImagesEverything is setfor a fantasticfootball festival.Streubel/Bongarts/Getty ImagesTHE GROUPSThe draw, which took placein Leipzig on 3 April, producedthe following groups:Group A: Spain, Italy,France, Switzerland;Group B: Germany,Turkey,England, Netherlands.EuropeanUnder-17Championship finalround in GermanyTest of strength for topEuropean talentTHE 15 MATCHES OF THE EUROPEAN UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUNDWILL BE HELD IN 12 STADIUMS IN SAXONY, SAXONY-ANHALT AND THURINGIAFROM 6 TO 18 MAY.Following the conclusion of thequalifying matches in March, the scheduleof matches to be played in the host citiesof Dessau-Rosslau, Erfurt, Gera, Gotha,Grimma, Jena, Magdeburg, Markranstädt,Meuselwitz, Sandersdorf, Taucha andTorgau was announced in the city hall inLeipzig on 3 April, exactly 33 days beforethe opening match on 6 May.Leaving organisational matters toone side, the DFB’s sports director, MatthiasSammer, emphasised the sporting aspectsof the tournament: “When we take partin a final round which we are organisingourselves, we are fully focused on winningthe European Championship title. This isan ideal opportunity for our youngstersto measure themselves against the bestteams in Europe.”Fantastic football festivalThe draw ceremony at thecity hall included a performance by theGewandhaus Kinderchor, one of Germany’smost famous and successfulchildren’s choirs. Senior UEFA and DFBofficials were among the 150 guests ofhonour.“We are delighted to beable to host this important internationalyouth tournament. Our experienceof organising major sports eventswill certainly help us to provide theteams and officials from the participatingassociations with the best possibleconditions in the 12 host cities,ensuring a fantastic football festival,”said the president of the DFB, TheoZwanziger.Getty ImagesChildren fromschools in thearea are usingthe finals asan opportunityto broadentheir horizons.Following the draw, a workshopwas held to inform the participatingteams about the organisational details ofthe final tournament. Visits to the teamhotels, training grounds and stadiumswere also on the agenda.Football without boundariesUnder the motto “Fussballkennt keine Grenzen” (football knowsno boundaries), the schools programmehas already begun in the three statesof Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.Around 600 schools have requestedthe free project kit, which includes awide range of activities based on thethemes of football, fair play and tolerance.The DFB has prepared a specialoffer for the schools by scheduling a totalof seven matches to take place in themorning so that as many classes as possiblecan attend a European Championshipmatch on a school outing.“We also want to ensure thatthe many children and young spectatorswho attend this event see for themselveshow football can have an impactthat goes far beyond sport itself, howit can bring together people from differentsocial groups, how it stands forpeaceful coexistence and how it helpsto promote values such as respect, fairplay and consideration of others,” saidthe DFB president.As far as the extensive preparatorywork was concerned, TheoZwanziger also mentioned the commitmentof the numerous volunteers:“Without the support of these people,such a tournament could not be held.I would like to take this opportunity tosay an enormous thank you to all thoseinvolved in the organisation of thisevent and showing such extraordinarycommitment for their enthusiasm andtheir important contribution.”At the start of May, the organisersfrom UEFA and the DFB will beginmoving into their accommodation inthe two tournament centres, Leipzigand Jena. The eight participating nationalassociations will also be based in thesetwo cities, ready to appear on the Europeanyouth football stage.Stephan Eiermann08 uefadirect 5.09

Pitchsideobservations…… andclassroompresentations.8th UEFAGrassroots Workshopin HamburgChildren’s footballas central pillarIF ONE WORD HAD TO BE CHOSEN TO SUMMARISE THE 8TH UEFA GRASSROOTSWORKSHOP WHICH WAS HELD FROM 16 TO 20 MARCH IN HAMBURG, IT WOULDSURELY BE ENERGY – WITH A CAPITAL E. FROM THE MOMENT THE BALL WAS SETROLLING BY GERHARD MAYER-VORFELDER, UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT, THEOZWANZIGER, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AND KARINVON WELCK, SPORTS SENATOR FOR THE CITY OF HAMBURG, THE EVENT, INVOLVING130 PARTICIPANTS FROM ALL 53 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS, TOOK OFF LIKE AROLLER COASTER, RUNNING AT BREATHTAKING SPEED, UPLIFTING ENOUGH TO DEFYTHE LAWS OF GRAVITY. THE SHEER IMPETUS REFLECTED THE FAST-GROWINGACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL, NOT ONLYTO THE SPORT ITSELF, BUT ALSO TO THE SOCIETY IT LIVES IN.In terms of enthusiasm, thehosts led by example – with the nationaland regional associations contributing,together with the two major clubs inthe city of Hamburg. The Grand Elyséehotel was the focal point for presentationsand discussions, but HamburgerSV’s stadium was the venue for practicalsessions on the opening afternoon,with groups of Under-12s providingbest-practice examples of age-appropriatetraining sessions. The venue on thefollowing day was the St. Pauli club,whose special personality was illustratedby the motto at the entrance to thestadium: Non Established Since 1910.The sessions dovetailed perfectly. Theboys and girls at St. Pauli might not havebeen able to match the HSV boys fortechnical excellence but they certainlymatched them in terms of enjoyment.The first session featured Under-10 girlsfrom the city’s migrant communities,whose parents needed to be persuadedto allow their daughters to take part.This was not about talent development– it was about using football as aninstrument for social integration.Focus on enjoymentThe fact that the practicalsessions focused on such a young agegroup was no accident. The rollercoasterevent pointed its nose in everyconceivable direction but it turnedaround a central pillar: children’s football.UEFA’s technical director, AndyRoxburgh, set the scene by examiningall aspects of ‘child’s play’ on theopening morning, emphasising theneed to focus on enjoyment of thegame in age brackets where footballshould be ‘serious fun’ with, in thiscase, ‘serious’ being the opposite tofrivolous.This was underlined whenWilli Hink described the developmentplan launched in Germany in 2007 andwhen former international star SteffiJones, who now presides the organisingcommittee for the 2011 FIFAWomen’s World Cup, explained howthe big event will be used as a sociallever to persuade even more girls toplay football.But the workshop coveredthe whole spectrum. Piet Hubers, forexample, revealed the Dutch plan topromote football for the 45+ agegroup. Jeff Davis of the English FA leda review of how disability football isbeing developed in various countries.Jim Fleeting of Scotland discussedfunding issues – including a fascinatinginsight into how the Scottish authoritiesare even supporting grassroots projects.The relationships between professionalclubs and the grassroots game werereviewed by Jörn Spuida, Roger Hasenbeinand Roberto Samaden of HSV,St. Pauli and FC Internazionale Milanorespectively. There was even time forformer German internationals UweSeeler and Hansi Müller to discuss theirexperiences as child players and theircurrent roles as ambassadors within thegrassroots game. Andy Roxburghsigned off by reviewing the astonishingprogress made since UEFA first startedto develop a grassroots programme14 years ago, including the GrassrootsCharter, which already has 37 signatories.But that’s another story. The sheerenergy of the event in Hamburg graphicallyillustrated the momentum of thegrassroots game and its increasing relevancein a cosmopolitan Europe.Children’sfootballin thespotlight.Photos: Sportsfile09

PA Archives/PA PhotosLeeds Unitedbeat Juventusto winthe finalInter-CitiesFairs Cup.PA Archives/PA PhotosThe firstUEFA Cup finalwas an all-Englishshowdown,won by TottenhamHotspur.Origins ofthe UEFA CupHans BangerterreminiscesTHE UEFA CUP IS IN ITS FINAL SEASON BEFORE IT IS RENAMED THEUEFA EUROPA LEAGUE AND GIVEN A NEW FORMAT, INCLUDING A PHASE OF12 GROUPS OF FOUR, WITH ALL MEDIA RIGHTS MARKETED CENTRALLY.Although significant, thechanges – which are designed to givenew impetus to the competition –are less radical than those that tookplace at the beginning of the 1970s,when the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup wasabolished and replaced with theUEFA Cup.Swiss Hans Bangerter, UEFAgeneral secretary from 1960 to 1988,is probably the only surviving, primarywitness of those changes. He recalls:“The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which wascreated in 1955, was the most importantinternational club competitionapart from the UEFA competitions,i.e. the European Champion Clubs’Cup and the European Cup Winners’Cup. It had an organising committeecomposed of eminent people suchas Ernst Thommen, the competition’sfounding chairman, who at the timewas president of the Swiss FootballAssociation, FIFA vice-president andchairman of the World Cup organisingcommittee. He was joined by SirStanley Rous, the very powerful secretaryof the English FA, UEFA vice-presidentand member of the World Cuporganising committee, Italy’s OttorinoBarassi and six or seven representativesof major clubs from cities inwhich important trade fairs were held.With such people at thehelm, the competition was clearlywell organised, with a permanent10 uefadirect 5.09secretariat hosted by Ernst Thommenwho, at that time, was also adirector of the Swiss sportsbetting company, Sport Toto,in Basle. The competition wasvery successful but the timecame when the UEFA ExecutiveCommittee thought thatsuch a major competitionshould be governed and organisedby UEFA itself, which couldensure that standard rules werefollowed and could deal withrefereeing and disciplinary matters.”UEFA Congress decisionAt that time, the Inter-CitiesFairs Cup was totally separate fromthe UEFA competitions: “Theyappointed their own referees, tookRoberto Baggio,captain of Juventus,lifts the trophy.The Italian club wonthe UEFA Cup threetimes, as did Internazionaleand Liverpool.

Archives-UEFAHans Bangerter at theinauguration of the UEFAoffices in Berne in 1976, withArtemio Franchi, then UEFApresident (left) and CarlZimmermann, longstandingmember, then chairman ofthe UEFA Youth Committee.UEFA-pjwoods.chTalking toSouth Africa’sDannyJordaanat thecongress inCopenhagendisciplinary measures and managedeverything themselves… There wasno coordination with our competitions.We therefore thought that this couldnot last.” The 1966 Ordinary UEFACongress in London agreed, albeit onlyby a narrow margin (11-10), and the1968 Congress in Rome ratified thedecision. However, it took a while forthe baton to be handed over. “Finally,with the support of Sir Stanley Rous,who had by now been elected FIFApresident and also chaired the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Committee, we cameto an agreement. And I remember thelast meeting of the Fairs Cup Committee,which was held in Barcelona.UEFA had been invited to send a representativeto this final meeting andthe Executive Committee asked me togo. I received a polite but rather frostywelcome. Sir Stanley Rous, who hadmany other important responsibilities,had little problem in handing over thetask of chairing the committee, butsome of the other members were notexactly thrilled to be losing a positionthat, when all is said and done, wasquite a nice one to have. We keptone or two of them in our committeesto iron out some of the difficultiesand, in the end, everything wentsmoothly.”The trophy for BarcelonaThe 13th and final editionof the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was thereforeheld in 1970/71, before thecompetition was replaced with abrand new one, the UEFA Cup. “Wechanged its name, increased theEmpics Sport/PA Photosnumber of clubs and even produced anew trophy.” The old trophy was keptby FC Barcelona, since it was decidedthat it should be presented to thewinner of a match between the firstwinners, Barcelona, and the last, LeedsUnited. The match, played in Barcelonaon 22 September 1971, was won 2-1by the home side.Wolverhampton Wanderers andTottenham Hotspur contested the firstUEFA Cup final in 1972. That final willhave been followed by 37 subsequenteditions by the time this year’s final hasbeen staged in Istanbul. In the meantime,the UEFA Cup absorbed the Cup Winners’Cup in 1999, but that is another storythat will be told in a future article.A long career in theservice of football“I was lucky enough to make a living out of my hobby!” At nearly85 years of age, Hans Bangerter remains as enthusiastic about footballas he was in his youth. “Since there were no clubs where I lived when Iwas a boy, I founded one for schoolboys!” On finishing his studies, HansBangerter joined the administration of the Swiss federal gymnastics andsports school in Macolin. His knowledge of languages meant that he wasgiven the task of welcoming foreign visitors andit was this that brought him into contact withfootball’s great leaders of the time, Sir StanleyRous, Ottorino Barassi and P.J. Bauwens, whovisited Macolin. “It was they who invited meto work at FIFA, and so, in 1953, I became FIFAdeputy general secretary in Zurich and wasinvolved in organising the 1954 World Cup inSwitzerland, among other things. I stayed atFIFA for seven years. In 1959, UEFA decided theyneeded a permanent secretariat. They hadoffices in Paris at the headquarters of the FrenchFootball Federation and Pierre Delaunay wassplitting his time between the FFF and UEFA, where he was generalsecretary at the time. He had to choose between the two institutionsand opted for the FFF. I was therefore offered the post, which I accepted,but I requested that the secretariat be based in Switzerland.”Hans Bangerter retired in 1988 and was made an honorary memberof UEFA at the 1992 Congress. He is also an honorary member of the SwissFootball Association and has been awarded the FIFA Order of Merit. Hecontinues to follow football closely: “The changes have been enormous.Clearly, commercialisation is necessary because our lives have changedcompletely, but this commercialisation must not become more importantthan the sport itself. I have always said that the sport must always takepriority.” A view that tallies perfectly with the first of the 11 principlesset out by Michel Platini at the recent UEFA Congress in Copenhagen:football first. With regard to the current UEFA president, the formergeneral secretary says he is “pleased that former players are assumingmanagement responsibilities because they have lived and breathed football,they know all its ins and outs, all the side issues. Football needspeople who know fully the game, not leaders who want at first to useit to make a name for themselves.”UEFA-pjwoods.ch11

UEFA-pjwoods.chThe ExecutiveCommittee inCopenhagen.UEFA-pjwoods.chIt was FrancoCarraro’slast ExecutiveCommitteemeeting.Meetings andother activitiesIntegrity of competitionstop of the agendasolidarity payments to clubs who werenot participating in the competitionfrom 5 to 6.5%. These funds shouldbe used for training purposes. Furthermore,the solidarity payments madeto clubs eliminated in the UEFA ChampionsLeague and UEFA Europa Leaguequalifying rounds would be increasedby around 30%.The revenue distribution systemwas approved, along with theregulations of the Champions League,Europa League and Super Cup forthe 2009/10 season.THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S SECOND MEETING OF THE YEAR,HELD IN COPENHAGEN ON 23/24 MARCH, MARKED THE END OF AN ERA FORFOUR OF ITS MEMBERS, FRANCO CARRARO, VIACHESLAV KOLOSKOV,GERHARD MAYER-VORFELDER AND PER RAVN OMDAL, WHO ALL LEFT OFFICE.The UEFA president, MichelPlatini, opened the meeting by thankingthem for the time and effort that theyhad given in service of UEFA and symbolicallypresented them with a key tothe House of European Football, assuringthem that they would always bewelcome there. He also paid tribute tothe two co-opted members whosemandates had come to an end, GiangiorgioSpiess and Friedrich Stickler.Michel Platini then presentedan 11-point manifesto, which is meantto serve as a plan of action and towhich the Executive Committee gaveits full backing (see pages 4/5).Increased solidarity paymentsThe participants then heardreports from the committee chairmenand took a number of decisions basedon their proposals. They particularlydiscussed the regulations of the UEFAclub competitions which, as is widelyknown, are being revamped for nextseason. In this context, the ExecutiveCommittee had invited a representativeof the clubs to its meeting for thefirst time. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,chairman of the European Club Association(ECA), was therefore able topresent the points of view of the 137clubs affiliated to the ECA.Referring to the distributionof revenue from the UEFA ChampionsLeague, he said that the clubs supportedthe proposal to increase theIntegrity of competitionsWith regard to financial fairplay in the UEFA club competitions,an important step was taken with thecreation of the Club Financial ControlPanel. Composed of independentfinancial and legal experts to be appointedby the Executive Committee(a chairman and up to eight members),this body will be responsible forensuring, via financial audits, thatReferees and grassroots footballSigning ceremonies in CopenhagenOn the eve of the Ordinary UEFA Congress in Copenhagen, seven nationalassociations signed the UEFA Referee Convention: the Faroe Islands,Northern Ireland, Iceland, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden.The convention now has 20 signatories and another 30 associationshave submitted applications.Another charter signed in the Danish capital was the UEFA GrassrootsCharter. The national associations of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic,Italy and Slovenia have taken the number of signatories to 37.These four associations have been awarded their first of a maximum sevenstars. There are currently 8 associations on five stars, 2 on four, 1 on three,3 on two and 23 on one.The Grassroots Charter signatorieswith UEFA representatives.UEFA-pjwoods.ch12 uefadirect 5.09

licences have been correctly awardedto clubs and that the clubs have mettheir obligations under the UEFA ClubLicensing Regulations.Also with the integrity ofcompetitions in mind, the ExecutiveCommittee heard an update on themeasures it had taken to combat illegalbetting and match-fixing. A frauddetection system had been set upwhich would not only monitor bettinglinked to UEFA competitions, butwould also gradually increase its scopeto cover all matches in the top twodivisions and national cup matches ofall UEFA member associations. Underthe new system, some 27,000 matcheswill be monitored each year in cooperationwith betting agencies from allover the world, leading to the creationof a huge database.With these measures in mindand in order to bolster UEFA’s disciplinaryservices, the Executive Committeeappointed two new specialist disciplinaryinspectors.Draw in WarsawThe Executive Committeewas informed of the state of progressof the preparatory work for UEFAEURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Itwas told that the draw to determinethe qualifying groups would be heldat the Palace of Culture and Science inWarsaw on 7 February 2010.As far as competitions areconcerned, the Executive Committeealso approved the regulations of the2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup and heard areport on the first European Under-21Futsal Tournament, which had beenorganised on an experimental basis.Another set of regulations thatwas approved were for the 2009/10Women’s Champions League, which willreplace the UEFA Women’s Cup witha new format. The final will be playedas a single match on neutral territoryin the same week and the same cityas the UEFA Champions League final.In addition, the eight best associationswill be entitled to enter two teamsand the competition will begin witha qualifying round played in the formof mini-tournaments. This round willbe directly followed by knockoutmatches from the round of 32 untilthe final.The Executive Committee wasalso informed that the final round ofthe 2008/09 Regions’ Cup would beplayed in Croatia from 15 to 22 June.Memorandum of understandingwith professional leaguesThe Executive Committee alsogave its backing to the signature of anew memorandum of understandingbetween UEFA and the Association ofEuropean Professional FootballLeagues (EPFL).With regard to social responsibility,it noted the conclusions of ananalysis of the campaigns linked toUEFA EURO 2008 (Score for the RedCross, fan embassies, EUROSCHOOLS,etc.) and heard recommendations forUEFA’s future activities in this field.■ In Copenhagen, the ExecutiveCommittee gave its full backingto FIFA’s position on out-of-competitionanti-doping tests and the need forindividual players to announce theirdaily whereabouts. FIFA and UEFAbelieve that a distinction must be madebetween team and individual sportsand ask that footballers be testedwithin the scope of the team andwithin the stadium infrastructure – andnot, under any circumstances, duringtheir short holiday periods.Empics Sport/PA PhotosManchester Unitedv Porto in the UEFAChampions Leaguequarter-finals.The competitionregulations for the2009/10 seasonwere approved bythe UEFA ExecutiveCommittee inCopenhagen.News fromBrusselsOn 10 March, the EuropeanParliament adopted a resolution onthe integrity of online gamblingwhich calls on the member states,betting operators and sportsorganisations to cooperate andtogether take up the challengesposed by the liberalisation of thissector.The basis for the resolutionis criminal activities associated withgambling and the impact thesehave on the integrity of sportsevents. In the words of the parliament,“if a sport is perceived as thesubject of manipulation for thefinancial gain of players, officialsor third parties rather than playedaccording to its values, rules andfor the enjoyment of its fans,this could result in a loss of publictrust.”To counter this threat, theresolution calls on EU memberstates to “ensure that sports competitionorganisers, betting operatorsand regulators cooperate onmeasures to tackle the risks relatedto illegal betting behaviour andmatch-fixing in sport and explorethe establishment of a workable,equitable and sustainable regulatoryframework to protect theintegrity of sports.”Much to the delight of sportsassociations, the resolution alsorecommends that member statesprotect sports competitions fromany unauthorised commercial useand calls on the European Commission“to examine whether it is possibleto give competition organisersan intellectual property right (somesort of ‘portrait right’) over theircompetitions.”The parliament strongly recommendsusing profits from gambling“for the benefit of society, includingrolling funding for (…) professionaland amateur sport and culture.”The resolution was tabledby Danish socialist MEP ChristelSchaldemose.13

Vogel/Bongarts/Getty Images for DFBFootball (Almami Morereira, left) andbasketball (Slavko Vranes) unite againstracism at FK Partizan.Dusan CucuzEight finalists headingto CroatiaIn the UEFA Regions’ Cup,the intermediate round is overand we now know which eightteams are going through to thefinals, which are being held in theZagreb area of Croatia.The amateur clubsof Privolzhie (Russia),Oltenia (Romania),Bratislava (Slovakia),Savez Gradiska (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Region I(Republic of Ireland), Kempen (Belgium)and Castilla y Leon (Spain) join Zagreb(Croatia) for the final round of thecompetition.The final draw takes place inTuheljske Toplice on 23 April.Belgium’s Kempen (Glenn van Asten, in red) won theirmini-tournament in Germany to earn a place in the final roundof the UEFA Regions’ Cup.time in a UEFA Women’s Cup. Whatis more, Zvezda’s journey began in thefirst qualifying round and, in theirten matches so far, they have wonnine and lost none, even againstheavyweight opponents such as titleholdersand three-time championsFFC Frankfurt, Brøndby IF and Umeå IK,finalists four times and winners twice.In the semi-finals, Sweden’sUmeå did all they could in the returnleg to recover the two goals theyconceded in the first leg in Russia.They opened the scoring but Zvezdacame back to equalise. It was thesame story when Umeå made it 2-1.For Umeå the adventure ended there,the only consolation being that noGerman-Russian UEFAWomen’s Cup finalThe eighth UEFA Women’sCup final is a landmark occasion.A Russian team has reached thefinal of the competition for the firsttime, where they face Germanopposition.The achievements ofRussia’s Zvezda-2005 –who are from Perm but,without a stadium thatmeets the UEFA criteria,had to play their homequarter and semi-finals some 500kmaway in Kazan – are all the moreremarkable considering this is their firstOlympique Lyonnaisand FCR 2001Duisburg battle it outin the semi-finals.Flash Press14 uefadirect 5.09

SportsfileHungary ishosting thefinal roundof theEuropeanFutsalChampionship.Getty ImagesSpain’s XaviHernandezdonates acheque forEUR 100,000to the ICRC.Bongarts/Getty ImagesThe GermanFootballAssociationtakes a standagainst racism.one else had managed to hold Zvezdaeven to a draw.In the final, Zvezda meetother UEFA Women’s Cup debutantes,FCR 2001 Duisburg. The Germanside only entered the competition inthe second qualifying round, but theirrecord over seven matches is just asimpressive with six wins and one draw.It was in the first leg of their semifinalin Lyon that Duisburg were heldto a draw (1-1), but they came backwith a 3-1 win at home.The first leg of the final isin Russia on 16 May. The two teamsthen meet in Duisburg on 22 May.This is the last time the final will beplayed on a home and away basis –next season the competition will havea new format, under the new nameof UEFA Women’s Champions League.European FutsalChampionship –First final round withtwelve teamsThe final round of the2009/10 European Futsal Championshiptakes place in Hungaryand, for the first time, there are12 finalists.Hungary, who qualifyautomatically as hosts,found out who theywould be up againstwhen the qualifyingmatches were completedin mid-March. Ukraine, Spain,the Czech Republic, Italy, Belgium,Portugal and Russia won the qualifyingmini-tournaments and will bejoined in Hungary by the best fourrunners-up, Belarus, Serbia, Azerbaijanand Slovenia.The final draw is being heldat the Kölcsey Convention Centre,Debrecen, on 24 September. The12 teams will be divided into fourgroups. The final tournament takesplace from 19 to 30 January.Football and socialresponsibilityAccording to Senes Erzik, aUEFA vice-president and chairman ofthe Fair Play and Social ResponsibilityCommittee, “social responsibilitymust be written in UEFA’s DNA”.After the Unite AgainstRacism conference inWarsaw in early March,UEFA has continuedpursuing many activitiesin the field of social responsibility, oneof which was Earth Hour, organised bythe World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on28 March. This consisted in turning offall lights as a mark of awareness ofclimate change and the need to preservethe environment.Also, at the UEFA ChampionsLeague quarter-final betweenFC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnaison 10 March, UEFA presented aEUR 100,000 cheque to Xavi Hernandez,captain of the uefa.com users’ Team ofthe Year. Xavi donated the money tothe Score for the Red Cross campaign,launched at EURO 2008 in support ofthe International Committee of theRed Cross (ICRC) rehabilitation projectfor landmine victims in Afghanistan.In addition, UEFA is onceagain participating in the annual SpecialOlympics Europe/Eurasia (SOEE) footballweek, which takes place from25 April to 3 May this year. A unifiedmatch between UEFA staff and SpecialOlympics players is being held on27 April in Nyon.Many of the member associationsalso have campaigns underway. In Belgium, for example, the“En un goal, de la rue à l’école” project(one goal, from street to school) hasbeen launched in favour of childrenin Africa; in Germany, the footballassociation showed racism the redcard in March; the Association ofEuropean Professional FootballLeagues (EPFL) organised a weekendagainst hunger; and clubs are followingsuit, with FK Partizan of Belgrade,for example, bringing footballersand basketball players together to sayno to racism.Football, a ray of light in a cloud of gloom, as depicted by Dix,a cartoonist at the anti-racism conference in Warsaw.15

N EWS FROM MEMBER ASSOCIATIONSAUSTRIA• PETER KLINGLMÜLLER •New coaching teamsIn March, Austria’s head coach, KarelBrückner, and his assistant, Jan Kocian,stepped down in agreement with theAustrian Football Association. Brückner issucceeded by Dietmar Constantini (53)from the Tyrol. Constantini has previouslyworked as head coach of Austria Wien,Wacker Innsbruck and Mainz 05, as wellas having assisted the legendary ErnstHappel at the helm of the national team.Constantini will be assisted by ManfredZsak (Under-21 coach, capped 49 timesfor the senior team) and Heinz Peischl(previously head coach at FC St. Gallen).Germany’s Mike Steverding has beenappointed as the new fitness coach.Austria’s new technical team: (from left)Manfred Zsak, Dietmar Constantini, Heinz Peischland Franz Wohlfahrt.Andreas Herzog, Austria’s record-holdingex-international, who has been on thesenior team staff since 2005, is taking overthe Under-21s, with Heimo Pfeifenberger(played for Werder Bremen) as his assistant,Roger Spry from England as fitness coachand Otto Konrad (UEFA Cup finalist withAustria Salzburg) as goalkeeping coach. ■GEPA PicturesA lot was said about financing. Thehead coach of the national A team, BerndStange (who was celebrating his birthdayon the day of the meeting), gave a shortbut fundamental speech about how ourfootball should develop: “We want to playattractive, modern football. But we shouldunderstand that we must get to the topfloor using the stairs and not the lift.”With more than 100 participants atthe meeting, an important resolution wasadopted to take major steps to promoteyouth football. Youth sector funding is tobe increased and more football academiescreated. Work with fans is also to be improved,in order to draw more spectators tothe stands. Several other decisions are tobe implemented in 2009. The participantsleft in good spirits, confident that themeeting was a positive start to the newfootball season. ■AZERBAIJAN• KONUL MEHTIEV •Seeking out young talentThe Association of Football Federationsof Azerbaijan (AFFA) organises variousprojects to strengthen and increase thepopularity of youth football throughoutthe country and scout for players for itsnational youth teams. Championships areheld in the different age categories andscouts work in each of the regions, seekingout talent.In the capital, Baku, on 16 February,Azerbaijan’s Under-15s coach, Oliver Pelzer,led the selection of 13 to 15-year-olds forTalent-spotting.his squad. The event was held at theOlympic national team training centre andattracted 200 children. The coaches singledout 11 promising players.The AFFA plans to hold similar events infuture. ■AFFABELARUS• YULIA ZENKOVICH •Annual general meetingA new football season is about to kickoff in Belarus. So, on 14 March the BelarusFootball Federation (BFF) held its annualgeneral meeting to review the results of theprevious season and discuss achievementsand things that could be improved. Severalimportant decisions were taken too.The special guest at the congress wasMarios N. Lefkaritis, one of UEFA’s vicepresidents.“I think this visit to Belarus ismy eighth. I must say that I have seenmany improvements in all areas. Your federationmakes excellent use of the fundsprovided by UEFA for building and renovatingmini-pitches, artificial pitches andstadiums.”Before the meeting got under way, theBFF president, Gennadiy Nevyglas, presentedlicences to the clubs that will be playingin the Vysshaya Liga (top division) of thenational championship. Then the best footballacademy youth coaches were givenwell-deserved awards.At the meeting, the BFF president gavea very thorough report about the situationin Belarusian football. He pointed out thata lot of work needed to be done to getspectators to the stadiums: “We have toremember that marketing and advertisingin football requires hard work every day.It is only by working on this every day thatwe will get more spectators coming tothe stadiums.” On improving the level ofrefereeing, the president said: “There isno doubt a lot of work needs to be doneto improve this area.” He also stressed theimportance of reducing to 12 the numberof teams playing in the top division: “Thedecision has been taken. There is nogoing back.”The president, Gennadiy Nevyglas, presentshis report to the meeting.BELGIUM• PIERRE CORNEZ •Association wins fair play awardIn Charleroi on 17 February, the BelgianFootball Association (URBSFA) receiveda fair play award for its security officerproject. The award was presented by VeerleVan Crombrugge on behalf of the homeaffairs minister, Guido De Padt.The fair play award (or rather, credit)is in its third year. With it, the home affairsministry provides an annual total ofEUR 100,000 to subsidise social projectslaunched by members of the football familyaiming to improve safety and security atmatches.A multidisciplinary committee wasgiven the job of selecting this year’s winningprojects. Alongside the URBSFA, Belgianclubs KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen,R. Charleroi SC, Oud-Heverlee Leuven, KAAGent, SV Zulte Waregem, Club Brugge KV,K. Lierse SK and KRC Genk were singledout for awards.The Belgian Football Association hadalready received a subsidy last season tohelp it produce a manual explaining whatthe role of the security officer entailed.This season, the URBSFA has beengiven EUR 20,000, the maximum possiblefor a single fair play credit. This handsomesum, a welcome sign of recognition, willfund the next stage of the project, whichBFF16 uefadirect 5.09

Raymond Hens, Nico De Pauw and FernandMeese, all members of the URBSFA safety andsecurity committee, with the fair play trophy.involves sending security officers to variousmatches in different divisions.Their role will be to provide information,advice and support to the organisers, witha view to preventing certain violations ofBelgian football legislation and of relatedimplementation directives and circulars. Thesecurity officer will under no circumstancestake the place of the organiser’s head ofsecurity and he will not take any operationaldecisions for the organisers or police.The URBSFA is constantly working toimprove security, both inside and outsidefootball stadiums, and is delighted to seeits efforts fully acknowledged. ■URBSFAdeputy mayor of Sarajevo, Predrag Pasic,director of Bubamara, and Aldo Montinaro,representative of Inter Milan, in front of ahall full of children.The city of Sarajevo will cover all thetransport costs of the children attendingthe training sessions, Inter is providing allthe equipment, and Bubamara has beenappointed to hold the training sessions andlead the project implementation.“Children whose parents aren’t able topay club membership fees will be able toplay thanks to this project. There are manyboys who have a great talent waiting to bediscovered. Thanks to such projects, manyworld-famous players have been discovered,such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and others,”said Predrag Pasic, director of the academyand former player at FK Sarajevo andVfB Stuttgart. He was also capped for theYugoslavian national team. ■Zlatko Matesa, chairmanof the Croatian Olympiccommittee, between MirceaSandu, member of theUEFA Executive Committee(right), and Vlatko Markovic,president of the CroatianFootball Federation.European club competitions: four Croatianclubs now go through.The Croatian first division has also beenenlarged from 12 to 16 clubs, with half ofthis season’s second division clubs competingfor the extra places. The club licensingdepartment is reviewing assessment reportsand decisions are eagerly awaited.The Croatian Football Federation isgrateful to UEFA for entrusting it with theorganisation of the 2009 UEFA Region’sCup final tournament in June. Eight finalistswill be playing at different football centresin the Zagreb area. The CFF cares a greatdeal about amateur football and expectsthe tournament to help to reaffirm this.Drazen Ladic, Croatia’s illustrious formerinternational goalkeeper, has been chosento lead the Croatian Under-21s for anothertwo-year period. We look forward withexcitement to his talented young players’first qualifying match. ■F.KrvavacCFFBOSNIA-HERZEGOVINAThe artificial pitch in Grbavica• FUAD KRVAVAC •CYPRUSFootball development projectsfor young peopleSarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina,has always suffered from a shortageof pitches. Only two stadiums with toadditional pitches are available for manyclubs. These are the Asim Ferhatovic Hasestadium (also known as the Olympic Stadium)in the district of Kosevo and NKZeljeznicar’s stadium in Grbavica. There isalso a small stadium being built in the Otokaarea. As well as the two premier leagueclubs, NK Zeljeznicar and FK Sarajevo, andthe first division’s FK Olimpik and NK SASKNapredak, many second division clubs andeven ten cantonal league clubs rely onthese pitches. Until a solution is found, allthe teams face huge problems trying toorganise training sessions and there isnowhere to hold youth competitions.The artificial pitch built a year ago inthe district of Kosevo and the other installedrecently at the Grbavica stadium are nowbeing used by youth teams. The honour ofplaying on these pitches for the first timewas given to the capital’s oldest clubs,Zeljeznicar and Pofalicki.One of the most popular and oldestBosnian football academies is the Bubamarain Sarajevo. This academy has recentlystarted a project with Inter Milan to enable90 children from socially deprived familiesto train for free. Other stakeholders in theproject are the city of Sarajevo and thecanton of Sarajevo’s social services.The project launch was announced atthe Skenderija hall by Nenad Markovic,CROATIA• ANTE PAVLOVIC •Exciting competitionThe Croatian Football Federation (CFF)has a successful year behind it. Progresshas been made in every field of activity.This was the delegates’ assessment at theCFF annual general meeting. Also at thismeeting, the CFF statutes were broughtinto line with UEFA’s. In the ceremonial partof the meeting, certificates were presentedin recognition of various UEFA Summer ofGrassroots activities. They were awarded byMircea Sandu, a UEFA Executive Committeemember, to the Zagreb rehabilitation centre(best disabled football event), Medjimurjecounty football association (best veteransfootball event), Varazdin county footballassociation (best grassroots futsal event)and the Zagreb county football association(most valuable grassroots football event).Yearly awards known as Trofej podmlatka –the highest honour in Croatian football –were also presented.The latter stages of the Croatian firstand second division championships havebecome very interesting. In the first divisionFC Dinamo Zagreb and FC Hajduk Splithave equal chances of finishing on top.These two clubs will also meet in the finalof the Croatian Cup. The stakes have beenraised by new opportunities to enter the• KYRIAKOS GIORGALLIS •Tournaments and seminarsOnce again, Cyprus was one of the mostpopular winter destinations for major Europeanclubs and national sides to fine-tunetheir teams ahead of UEFA competitions.The Cyprus FA itself organised its 12thinternational tournament for national Ateams between 9 and 12 February withgreat success. Football fans had the opportunity,on two matchdays, to watch highlevelfootball with the national team ofUkraine eventually winning the tournamentby beating Serbia 1–0 in the final. In theUkraine won the international tournamentin Cyprus.CFA➜17

N EWS FROM MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS➜opening games, Serbia beat Cyprus 2–0and Ukraine beat Slovakia 3–2. In the thirdplaceplay-off, Cyprus beat Slovakia 3–2.The elite of women’s football were alsopresent in Cyprus this winter, with 4 of the12 UEFA Women’s EURO 2009 contendersmeasuring their strength ahead of theAugust finals in Finland. From 5 March andfor a whole week, England, the Netherlands,France, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, NewZealand and last year’s titleholders, Canada,took part in the second Cyprus Women’sCup. In the final in Nicosia on 12 March,England beat reigning champions Canada3–1 to lift the trophy.Grassroots development has been oneof our highest priorities over the last fewyears and the Cyprus FA is once againorganising various grassroots tournamentsin the Under-8, Under-10 and Under-11categories (60 teams in each age groupplaying five-a-side matches), as well as anUnder-12 tournament for 22 nine-a-sideteams. All these grassroots tournamentsare in progress and are expected to finishby the end of May.Prior to this, the Cyprus FA, in cooperationwith the national referee and refereeobserver associations, successfully organisedtwo seminars. The main speaker atboth seminars was Jaap Uilenberg, a formerFIFA referee and current member of theUEFA Referees Committee. During the referees’seminar, Jaap Uilenberg coveredmany topics on the Laws of the Gameusing footage from EURO 2008 matches.At the second seminar he supplied our refereeobservers with all the necessary informationand guidelines to achieve the mostefficient and uniform assessment of refereeand assistant referee performances. In addition,he analysed the latest marking system.Great emphasis was also given to the importanceof the UEFA Referee Convention,with detailed explanations about how itwould help all the associations to improvethe level of their refereeing. ■ENGLAND• JENNIE HAMBLETON •Contribution to cancer researchThe England coach, Fabio Capello, visitedNewcastle’s Freeman Hospital in Februaryto present a cheque for GBP 75,000 onbehalf of The Football Association to SirBobby Robson, as the former England coachlaunches his new cancer care centre.The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer TrialsResearch Centre will be at the forefront ofresearch into cancer – a disease which SirBobby is fighting himself for a fifth time.Sir Bobby commented: “I’m very gratefulto The FA for their extremely generous supportand to Fabio for delivering the donationin person. I know from experience that hehas a very demanding job and for him totake the time to visit us personally speaksvolumes about his character.”Fabio Capello said: “Sir Bobby Robsonis a football legend, not just in England butaround the world. I have known him formany years, from when we both managedin Spain, and I am very pleased that The FAis backing the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.“Sir Bobby is a very courageous manand it is an honour to be able to presenthim with a donation which will help hisfoundation’s important work.”Sir Bobby Robson was also awarded theUEFA Order of Merit in emerald last month.A highly respected coach with an outstandingrecord in England and across Europe,Sir Bobby’s award was in recognition of hissignificant contribution to the developmentand renown of football. The award wascollected on his behalf by the FA chairman,Lord Triesman, at the UEFA Congress dinnerin Copenhagen on 25 March. ■Sir Bobby Robson and Fabio Capello displaythe cheque.FRANCE• PHILIPPE MAYEN •The FAJobs for young footballersIntegration, citizenship, education,respect… all these ideas are becomingincreasingly important in our society. Whenhe was re-elected as president of theFrench Football Federation, Jean-PierreEscalettes made civic development in footballone of his priorities. Lots of action hasalready been taken, including the Un butpour l’Emploi (a goal for employment)project, which helps young footballers frominner-city areas find long-term employment,using their love of football as a springboard.With the French foundation foraction against social exclusion (FACE) andvarious companies as project partners, theFFF helps to identify potential participants,rallies the leagues to facilitate access toyouth worker training schemes, and helpsto promote the project. Raymond Domenechis the patron of the project, in which participantswork and study through a dualtrainingsystem.The Permis, sport, emploi initiative(licence, sport, job) is another move to get100 young footballers (male and female)from Seine-Saint-Denis into long-term jobsby September. This dual-training formatincludes an academic refresher course anddriving lessons. There are numerous place-The national coach, Raymond Domenech,is supporting the project.ments over a period of eight months – incompanies, at a driving school, at a militarytraining centre in Lorient, at the FFF trainingcentre in Clairefontaine and at associations.The companies are monitoring the participantsthroughout, with a view to recruitingthem in September. ■GEORGIA• LASHA GODUADZE •Revaz Shengelia’s2008/09 yearbookThe Georgian Football Federation hasmade a gift to Georgian football supporters:a new book about Georgian football,written by Revaz Shengelia, is on sale now.The Georgian Football Yearbook2008/09 is the 15th edition published insuccession since 1993. In the book, footballfans can find information about the resultsof the 2007/08 season. They can also findthe team lists of the clubs taking part inthe national championship and all sorts ofinteresting statistics.A large part of the publication is aboutthe matches of Georgia’s national A andyouth teams held in 2007/08, but readerswill also find interesting information aboutthe other European national teams andtheir statistics. ■GFFFFF18 uefadirect 5.09

GERMANY• KLAUS KOLTZENBURG •DFB membership boom continuesThe boom in membership levels atthe German Football Association (DFB) iscontinuing: with the addition of morethan 120,000 new members in 2008, thenumber of registered members stood at6,684,462 on 1 January this year. TheDFB has 25,726 affiliated clubs. Every week,an average of 178,396 teams play organisedfootball. Football therefore remainsthe most popular sport in Germany andthe DFB is still the largest member of theGerman Olympic Sports Federation.ISRAEL• NIMROD SUZIN •Chairman electedto UEFA Executive CommitteeIn 1994, the Israel Football Associationbecame a full,equal member ofUEFA. Now, 15years later, it hasreached anotherhistoric andthrilling landmark.Avi Luzon, chairmanof the IsraelFootball Association,has beenLATVIA• MARTINS HARTMANIS •LFF and LMT equip orphanage gymAt the end of March, the Latvian FootballFederation (LFF), its general sponsor,Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT), and theLatvian national football team presentedgym equipment to the Apite orphanage inRiga. Previously, the 30 children living therehad only ladders in their gym, but nowthey have universal exercise and fitnessapparatus. The LMT is a patron of the Apitehouse and this was the second time thenational football team players and coacheshad paid the children a visit. The sweetsthey brought along were very popular andconsumed in record time. The LMT donatedbooks, and the children had prepared awelcome table for their guests. A picturewas taken of all the children and guestsbefore they said their goodbyes.In other news, the LFF held its annualgeneral meeting at the end of March, atIFAFootball is more attractive than everbefore, especially among children and youngpeople. According to the DFB’s new membershipfigures, a total of 2,315,987 boys andgirls play football in the 21 regional associations.Compared to the previous year, thisrepresents an increase of 42,297 youngstersunder the age of 18.This positive overall picture also includesan upward trend in women’s and girls’ football.The DFB currently has 1,022,824 femalemembers, making this the second time(2008 was the first) that the million mark hasbeen surpassed. According to the currentmembership figures, a total of 20,219 girlsand women have recently joined clubs.The largest regional association is stillBavaria with 1,465,579 members, followedby Westphalia (823,442), Lower Saxony(670,504), Württemberg (540,273) andHessen (523,858). ■elected to the UEFA Executive Committee,the decision-making body of the Europeanfootball organisation.Avi Luzon is the first Israeli to be electedto this prominent post and this electiondemonstrates the high opinion Europe hasof the current Israel Football Association.The UEFA Executive Committee is madeup of 15 representatives. Mr Luzon waselected for a four-year term, in the firstballot, by the UEFA Congress in Denmark.“This is a very exciting moment for meand an important one for Israeli football.We, as an association in a small country,have managed to make our way to the topof the most important sports organisationin Europe, which highlights the hugeadvances the Israel Football Association hasmade in the past two years,” he said.“I can say I am proud and humble, fullyconscious of the importance of this missionand filled with great joy.” ■which the LFF outlined its future prioritiesand took note of the main tasks it faced inthe development of Latvian football. TheLFF president, Guntis Indriksons, promisedthat the association would continue themini-pitch project and expected the firstpitches to be opened this summer. Also,Staicele is set to be the first city in Latvianfootball history to create a national youthteam training base, co-funded by the LFFand UEFA. ■The Latvian national team visits orphans in Riga.LFFLIECHTENSTEIN• ANTON BANZER •Financially successful yearThe Liechtenstein Football Association(LFV) held its annual general meeting inSchaan on 23 March, when the delegatesdealt swiftly with a packed agenda.The LFV was able to welcome delegatesfrom its seven member clubs to this annualgathering, along with representatives of theEast Swiss and Vorarlberg football associations.UEFA and FIFA representatives alsoattended the meeting, with the aim of findingout about the LFV’s activities. And theyare bound to have left with a very positiveimpression, since the meeting went extremelysmoothly and there was plenty of goodnews to report.The Liechtenstein Football Association board,presided by Reinhard Walser (far right)The LFV president, Reinhard Walser,began by looking back at the highlights of2008, a year he described as being mixedfrom a sporting point of view, but verysuccessful financially. The next items on theagenda were the approval of the annualaccounts and the adoption of various regulatoryamendments. Since all the detailshad already been discussed with the presidentsof the affiliated clubs, the meetingwas merely required to adopt the relevantproposals.The elections for the LFV board andclub licensing committees also went withouta hitch. Fredy Hilti, LFV vice-president,Georges Lüchinger, marketing director, andHeinz Biedermann, grassroots footballdirector, were all unanimously re-elected foradditional two-year terms. The membersof two club licensing committees were alsounanimously re-elected, giving the LFVcontinuity at all levels.At the proposal of the LFV board, thegeneral meeting named former nationalteam player and coach Erich Bürzle as anhonorary member. Erich Bürzle captainedLiechtenstein’s national team as a playerand, after hanging up his boots, served asthe national team’s assistant coach 85times, team manager three times and evenhead coach for three matches. In ErichBürzle, the LFV honoured a man who hasgiven tremendous service to football inLiechtenstein. ■19LFV

N EWS FROM MEMBER ASSOCIATIONSLITHUANIA• JULIUS KVEDARAS •A new logoThe Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF)has changed its official logo and the executivecommittee has given the new designits seal of approval.It was decided that the time had cometo change the federation’s official logo, toraise the quality standard and make it moredemocratic, open and western.The LFF launched a competition forsuggestions on how its logo might lookthrough the eyes of professional designers.There were over 30 entrants in the firststage of the competition; four were selectedfor the second round based on their ideasfor the new logo. After long discussions,the most popular design was selected asbeing that of Audrius Klimas.FYR MACEDONIA• ZORAN NIKOLOVSKI •Plans for a new training centreAt the beginning of March, the UEFApresident, Michel Platini, visited FYR Macedoniaat the invitation of the football association.During his stay, he visited a monumentdedicated to the first football matchplayed in the country, 100 years ago.The UEFA president also visited thenational stadium in the capital, Skopje, whichis currently being rebuilt and should befinished in June.The most important meeting was withthe prime minister of FYR Macedonia, NikolaGruevski, where an investment contractfor a new training centre in Skopje was discussed.Michel Platini said that UEFA wouldcontribute to the project by the way of itsHatTrick programme. The government willsupply the plot of land and, according toHari Hadzi-Risteski, president of the FootballAssociation of FYR Macedonia, the restof the money will come from sponsors andthe association itself.At the press conference, the UEFApresident talked about modern trends inworld football and problem areas such asyouth transfers. ■A ceremony in front of the monumentcommemorating the country’s first football match.FSMThe selected design was then fine-tuned.The main idea was to establish a connectionwith every footballer, which meant not onlylooking at it from the federation’s perspective,but also from that of the players.“The main challenge was that there weretwo different design objectives – official distanceand emotional connection. It is alongthese lines that the vision of the new logohad to take shape. The result is a new, sharpand strong symbol for the Lithuanian FootballFederation,” says the general secretary,Julius Kvedaras.According to Audrius Klimas, the designerof the new logo, there are many differencesbetween the old and new design. The oldlogo was the shape of a shield, as used byLithuanian fighters on the battlefields of old.Such a symbol, Klimas said, was not veryappropriate for the official logo because theface of the federation should appear friendly,open and simple to the whole world offootball. The federation’s main functionis to represent Lithuania’s football clubs,players and society – for that its logo shouldnot be defensive. ■MALTA• ALEX VELLA •Malta FA presidentgiven due recognitionDuring a brief meeting of the newlyformed UEFA Executive Committee at theend of the XXXIII Ordinary UEFA Congressin Copenhagen late inMarch, the presidentof the Malta FootballAssociation (MFA),Joseph Mifsud, wasappointed as one ofUEFA’s vice-presidentsfor the next twoyears, on proposal ofUEFA president,Michel Platini.The MFA top official,a lawyer by profession, is well-versedin European football’s administrative circles,having served uninterruptedly on theExecutive Committee of the Europeangoverning body since he was first electedin 1994, a span of service which makeshim one of the doyens of European footballadministration.In Malta, Mifsud has been at the helmof football for almost 17 years, duringwhich the Maltese game has continued tomake progress in various sectors and hehas managed to build on his predecessors’achievements. Advances have been registeredin administrative and infrastructuralfields, as well as in putting Malta on awider international, competitive map.His administrative nous in mattersrelating to the game has earned him severalkey positions, including a post as aEuropean member of the FIFA ExecutiveCommittee between 1998 and 2000.UEFA-pjwoods.chThis new UEFA appointment willundoubtedly carry new responsibilities forMifsud. However, given his qualities as aworkaholic, he will certainly have more tooffer for the benefit of the game.In addition, while at the congress, theMFA president together with his generalsecretary, Joe Gauci, and accompaniedby Patrick Fenech, representing the MFAreferees board, signed up to the UEFAReferee Convention in the presence ofMichel Platini and the UEFA general secretary,David Taylor. ■MOLDOVA• VICTOR DAGHI •Order of Honourfor UEFA presidentThe UEFA president and a UEFA delegationvisited Moldova on 5 March, atthe invitation of Pavel Cebanu, presidentof the Football Association of MoldovaMichel Platini, Pavel Cebanu and Vladimir Voroninein the FAM president’s office.(FAM). It was the second time that MichelPlatini had visited Moldova in the lastthree years, but last time, in 2006, hecame here as a candidate for the UEFApresidency.The UEFA president’s visit includedstops at the FAM offices, where he metthe association staff, and the Vadul-lui-Voda technical centre, where he met theFAM executive committee and Moldova’sfootball veterans.During his visit, the UEFA presidentalso met Vladimir Voronin, president ofMoldova. He said that this was his firstvisit to Moldova as UEFA president and heintended to fully capitalise on his good,friendly relations with the FAM president,Pavel Cebanu, and the possibilities forUEFA to help in the development ofMoldovan football. Presently, under theHatTrick programme, the FAM is organisingprojects to extend the technical centreand equip the pitches with toilets andstands, which would allow the associationto host official Under-17 and Under-19mini-tournaments there.Boris Harcenco20 uefadirect 5.09

Mr Cebanu acknowledged the solidarityshown by the European football communityin supporting the FAM to restorethe Vadul-lui-Voda technical centre afterthe 2008 summer floods.The FAM president listed the achievementsof recent years in the developmentof Moldovan football, namely the creationof 46 artificial mini-pitches, the renovationof the Zimbru stadium and the creationof FAM subsidiaries in variousMoldovan districts.Mr Voronin thanked the UEFA presidentfor the projects UEFA had implementedin Moldova. The Moldovan presidentmade special mention of the minipitchproject. At the end of the event, theUEFA president was awarded the Order ofHonour. This distinction was conferred onthe UEFA president and celebrated exfootballeras a sign of appreciation for hisspecial contribution to the developmentof Moldovan football and the consolidationof its technical and material foundations.“When I heard the Marseillaise –the French national anthem – in the presidentialoffice, I had two feelings. First ofall, I felt like I was at the football matchbetween France and the Republic ofMoldova. Secondly, I remembered my lastmatch as captain of the French nationalteam. That was 22 years ago. I am honouredand grateful for this award,” saidthe UEFA president at the press conferencefor Moldovan and foreign journalists. ■REPUBLIC OF IRELAND• FRAN WHEARTY •Aviva claim naming rightsfor new stadiumHibernian Aviva, Ireland’s largest insurancecompany, has secured the namingrights to what will now be called the AvivaStadium in what is one of the most significantsponsorship deals in Irish history. Thedeal sees Hibernian Aviva take on thenaming rights for a tenyearperiod and provideinvestment support tothe Irish Rugby FootballUnion (IRFU) and theFAI for their grassrootsprogrammes.Meanwhile, followinga meeting in Copenhagen,the football associationsof Northern Ireland(IFA), the Republicof Ireland (FAI), Scotland(SFA) and Wales (FAW)recently agreed on provisionaldates for the sixmatches of the inauguralfour associations’ tournamentwhich will takeplace in Dublin in 2011.The tournament will be operated ona league basis with six matches played betweenthe four neighbouring teams. Theprovisional agreement was for the first twogames of the tournament involving all fourteams to take place on 8 and 9 February2011, while the remaining four games wouldtake place three months later on 24, 25, 27and 28 May.The tournament is expected to attractmany thousands of supporters from all overNorthern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and theRepublic of Ireland, and to provide a majorboost to Irish tourism, along with the UEFAEuropa League final which takes place atthe Aviva Stadium on 18 May 2011. ■The Aviva Stadium.FAINORTHERN IRELAND• LEE CARROLL •UEFA award for grassrootsfootballNone other than football legend andnow president of UEFA, Michel Platini,was in Northern Ireland recently andpresented the Irish Football Associationwith a prestigious UEFA award in recognitionof its promotion and developmentof grassroots football.Mr Platini presented the president ofthe Irish FA, Raymond Kennedy, and itshead of grassroots football, Lee Carroll,with the coveted five-star recognitionunder the UEFA Grassroots Charterscheme. Northern Ireland is now mixingwith and holding its own against some ofthe top football nations in Europe and sitsproudly alongside seven other top footballnations (England, Scotland, Germany,Netherlands, Norway, Finland andUkraine) who have attained the five-staraward and been recognised by UEFA atthe highest level.The UEFA Grassroots Charter schemewas established around three years agowith the purpose of trying to get all memberassociations in Europe to bring aboutand pursue the development of grassrootsfootball in their home countries. TheIrish FA’s five-star status reflects the workbeing undertaken by the association todevelop areas of grassroots football suchas participation, coach education structures,social responsibility and disability,girls and women’s football.Lee Carroll said: “The associationhas been involved in this process for thepast couple of years and a lot of hardwork and dedication has gone into meetingthe criteria for these awards. This is justreward for all the Irish FA staff, grassrootsofficers and those involved in grassrootsfootball throughout Northern Ireland. Tobe recognised by UEFA and be one of thetop countries in Europe is fantastic.”Nigel Worthington, Northern Irelandcoach and supporter of the grassrootsprogramme, also recognises the significanceof this accolade. “When you considerthat only eight countries in Europehave received this award and we are upthere with the likes of Germany, Englandand the Netherlands, this puts into contextwhat a great achievement this is,”said the Northern Ireland boss. “I havealways stressed the importance of gettingthe grassroots structures right. They arean essential element in the developmentof players and where all our future starsbegin their football careers. I wouldlike to congratulate all the Irish FA staffinvolved in getting this award.”The Irish FA has a dedicated teamincluding grassroots, girls’ football, disabilityfootball and community relationsofficers all committed to the promotionof grassroots football. ■IFAThe UEFA president,Michel Platini,presents the five-staraward to RaymondKennedy (left),president of the IFA,and Lee Carroll,the IFA’s head ofgrassroots football.21

N EWS FROM MEMBER ASSOCIATIONSSLOVAKIA• JANKA PERACKOVA •Fair play award and footballerof the year 2008The Slovak Football Association (SFA)has been looking back on 2008 with thewhole Slovak football family. The 2007/08fair play awards ceremony was held in thelast week of February. The traditional cere-FC), who took the award for the secondyear in a row. The Peter Dubovsky awardin the Under-21 category, named after anoutstanding Slovakian international whodied in 2000, also went to last year’swinner, Marek Hamsik. In addition to themen’s footballer of the year, votes werecast for the 2008 women’s footballer ofthe year. Veronika Klechova of SK SlovanBratislava won in this category, withMarcela Lukacsova coming second andEva Kolenova third. ■SLOVENIA• MATJAZ KRAJNIK •Management conferenceThe licensing department of theSlovenian FA (FAS) has organised one ofits regular management conferencesfor Slovenian clubs and football stakeholders,dealing with the future of Slovenianfootball in different areas: finance,youth football and public relations. Varioushigh-profile speakers addressed thesesubjects from different angles. A UEFArepresentative talked about some of thekey preventive measures necessary duringthe recession in order to minimise itseffect and the CEO of FK Austria Wienpresented his club’s activities. Anotherguest speaker came over from the WelshFA to give some insights into his area ofexpertise, public relations and crisis communication,which the club PR specialistsand senior management all found veryuseful. The last foreign speaker was arepresentative of Italian football clubUdinese Calcio, who presented the Italiangiants’ scouting strategy. But this wasnot the last of the interesting, educationalpresentations: Slovenian football clubNK Maribor presented its PR strategy, theFAS’s Mladen Cicmir spoke about financialand legal aspects of transfer activities,and his colleague Milos Rus presentedthe FAS grassroots plan for 2008–12.Ales Zavrl, head of the licensing departmentat the Slovenian FA, was verypleased with the outcome of the conference:“The feedback we received suggestsit was a very successful conference, whichis also clear from the number of participants.Domestic and foreign speakersgave presentations on topics that arecurrently very important, at home and atinternational level. The exchange ofexperience and good practice will definitelyhelp the growth of our football.”The conference was also attended byguests from the football associations ofCroatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. ■Martin Skrtel with his impressive playerof the year award.mony took place in Dolny Kubin and,as usual, there were three categories:exemplary and successful playing career,exemplary work and contribution toSlovak football, and extraordinary act.Ladislav Jurkemik, Anton Ondrus and JanSvehlik, legendary players and winners ofthe 1976 European Championship, werehonoured in the first category, togetherwith Ladislav Kuna (Czechoslovakia’s mostcapped player) and Jan Kozak (currentMFK Kosice coach and outstanding formerinternational). Seven people receivedawards in the second category and specialprizes were awarded in the third to threebrave men who had saved the lives ofthree players, each at a different match.Another important event, which tookplace in March and was dedicated to currentplayers, was the Slovakian footballerof the year award ceremony. Journalistsand football coaches vote for the playerwho is considered to have performed bestover the previous calendar year. The topten, in ascending order, were Marek Cech(West Bromwich Albion) Filip Holosko(Besiktas Istanbul), Peter Pekarik (VfLWolfsburg), Stefan Senecky (AnkarasporAS), Robert Vittek (SC Lille), Jan Kozak(SK Slovan Bratislava), Marek Sapara(Rosenborg Trondheim), Stanislav Sestak(VfL Bochum), Marek Hamsik (SSC Napoli)and, in first place, Martin Skrtel (LiverpoolSFZSWITZERLAND• PIERRE BENOIT •Ex-internationals meet in EmmenAt the invitation of the Swiss FootballAssociation (SFV) president, RalphZloczower, and general secretary, PeterGilliéron, former members of Switzerland’snational team this year met in Emmen,in the Swiss canton of Lucerne, for theirannual get-together.The SFV technical director, HansruediHasler, and the head of the SFV trainingcentre in Emmen, Heinz Moser, told thegroup of ex-internationals about the association’straining philosophy and its youthdevelopment concept, as well as the workof the four SFV training centres.After attending a training session foryoung players from the Emmen trainingcentre, the former players went for dinnerat the Old Swiss House in Lucerne, wherethey had an opportunity to reminisce andexchange stories about former glories.Participants at the meeting, the third ofits kind, included some really big names inSwiss football, such as Ciriaco Sforza (79caps), André Egli (76), goalkeeping legendErich Burgener (64) and Heinz Schneiter(44), who was twice selected for Switzerland’sWorld Cup side, in 1962 and 1966.The guests were welcomed by Switzerland’snational team delegate, ErnstLämmli, and the head coach, OttmarHitzfeld. ■SFV/ASFThe association’spresident,Ralph Zloczower,talks toex-internationals.22 uefadirect 5.09

UEFA-pjwoods.chCommunicationsBirthdays – CalendarCommunicationThe Football Union of Russiahas a new email address:info@rfs.ruBirthdaysJean-Marie Gantenbein (Luxembourg),member of the circle of former UEFA committeemembers, celebrates his 75th birthday on12 May. Two match observers are turning 70:Johann Hantschk (Austria) on 3 May andRobert B. Valentine (Scotland) on 10 May.Ernst-Peter Radziwill (Germany), member ofthe Stadium Construction and ManagementPanel, celebrates his 60th birthday on 11 May,followed by Odile Lanceau (France), memberof the Stadium and Security Committee,on 14 May and Piotr Maranda (Poland),member of the Jira Panel, on 15 May.UEFA also wishes many happy returns to:● Mircea-Lucian Salomir (Romania, 1.5)● Campbell Ogilvie (Scotland, 1.5)● Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark, 1.5)● Ladislav Gadosi (Slovakia, 3.5)● Volydymyr Chorno-Ivanov (Ukraine, 3.5)● Anghel Iordanescu (Romania, 4.5)● Eleonora Gambillara (Switzerland, 4.5)● Peter Gilliéron (Switzerland, 5.5)● Costakis Koutsokoumnis (Cyprus, 5.5)● Kenneth Ridden (England, 6.5)● Gudmundur Petursson (Iceland, 6.5)● Stanislav Strapek (Slovakia, 6.5)● Karl-Erik Nilsson (Sweden, 6.5)● Murat Jaha (Bosnia-Herzegovina, 7.5)● Pekka Luhtanen (Finland, 8.5)● Michel Pralong (Switzerland, 8.5)● Marc Dobbeleir (Belgium, 8.5)● Patrick Comninos (Greece, 8.5)● Ucha Ugulava (Georgia, 8.5)● Haim Zimmer (Israel, 9.5)● Georgios Borovilos (Greece, 10.5)● Armen Melikbekyan (Armenia, 10.5)● Arie Frost (Israel, 11.5)● Timo Huttunen (Finland, 11.5)● Henrik Ravnild (Denmark, 13.5)● Mattia Piffaretti (Switzerland, 13.5)● Carlos Manuel Ferreira Matos (Portugal, 14.5)● Hans-Jörg Eissmann (Germany, 15.5)● Hakan Nyberg (Sweden, 15.5)● Evzen Amler (Czech Republic, 15.5)● Nikolay Levnikov (Russia, 15.5)● Angel Bungurov (FRY Macedonia, 16.5)● Lubos Michel (Slovakia, 16.5)● Svein Johannessen (Norway, 17.5)● Lars Appelqvist (Sweden, 18.5)● Andreas Morisbak (Norway, 19.5)● Jozef Marko (Slovakia, 19.5)● Helmut Krug (Germany, 19.5)● Gaetano De Gabriele (Malta, 19.5)● Rune Pedersen (Norway, 19.5)● Raimondas Statkevicius (Lithuania, 19.5)● Michal Listkiewicz (Poland, 20.5)● Serge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland, 20.5)● Zvezdan Terzic (Serbia, 21.5)● Nicolai Cebotari (Moldova, 21.5)● Theo van Seggelen (Netherlands, 22.5)● Packie Bonner (Rep. of Ireland, 24.5)● Ainar Leppänen (Estonia, 24.5)● Semen Andreev (Russia, 25.5)● Suheil Daood (Israel, 25.5)● Hans Cooman (Belgium, 25.5)● Ivancica Sudac (Croatia, 25.5)● Ramon Calderon Ramos (Spain, 26.5)● Evgeni Giner (Russia, 26.5)● Robert Jeurissen (Belgium, 27.5)● Zdenek Sivek (Czech Republic, 28.5)● Patrick A. Daly (Rep. of Ireland, 28.5)● Jim Stjerne Hansen (Denmark, 28.5)● Jean-Pierre Escalettes (France, 29.5)● Jacques Antenen (Switzerland, 29.5)Forthcoming eventsMeetings12.5.2009, MinskDraw for the final round of the EuropeanWomen’s Under-19 Championship12/13.5.2009, BucharestExecutive CommitteeCompetitions5/6.5.2009UEFA Champions League: semi-finals(return leg)6-18.5.2009, GermanyFinal round of the European Under-17Championship7.5.2009UEFA Cup: semi-finals (return legs)16.5.2009, KazanUEFA Women’s Cup: final (first legs)20.5.2009, IstanbulUEFA Cup: final22.5.2009, DuisburgUEFA Women’s Cup: final (return legs)27.5.2009, RomeUEFA Champions League: finalMatch agentsThree new UEFA match agentlicences have been granted:Koralia KonstanteaAll Star Consultancy LtdSyngrou Avenue 13717121, Nea SmirniAthens, GreeceTel.: +30 210 9339830Fax: +30 210 9340821korallia.kaziani@allstarsports.grCem ÜlkerogluKastel Dragos Sahil Sitesi E.3-55Dragos / MaltepeIstanbul, TurkeyTel.: +90 216 457 4771Mob.: +90 532 297 9139ulkeroglu@stelia.tvSoslan SalamovBrit Education & Travel26 Westbourne GroveLondon W2 5RH, EnglandTel.: +44 20 7727 2360Fax: +44 20 7727 5705soslan@brit-education.co.ukIn addition, David Shepherd(England) has had his licencerenewed for eight years,while Reginaldo Rangel Pereira(England) has cancelled his.WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALLOfficial publication of theUnion des associationseuropéennes de footballCommunications DivisionChief editor André VieliProduced by Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 GlandPrinted by Artgraphic Cavin SA, CH-1422 GrandsonEditorial deadline: 9 April 2009The views expressed in signedarticles are not necessarily theofficial views of UEFA.The reproduction of articlesor extracts of any informationpublished in uefadirectis authorised, provided thesource is indicated.

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