Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

LennartJohanssonpresentsthe Orderof Meritto JosephS. Blatter...... GyörgySzilagyi...UEFAUEFAUEFAFaithful servantsUEFA owes its prosperity toits competitions and players, but alsoto all those who work within its committees,panels and working groups aswell as its administration and thenational associations, not forgettingthose people who, outside these institutions,have also played an active rolein promoting football and its wellbeing.The Golden Jubilee celebrationswere an ideal opportunity to pay tributeto some of these invaluable friendsof football. For those who have servedon its committees and panels for12 years or more, UEFA has created a“Circle of former committee members”who, following their retirement fromthe European bodies, are invited toeach Congress in order to maintaintheir links with the European footballcommunity and to rediscover theatmosphere of these large internationalgatherings. This year, 26 individualsbecame eligible for membership of theCircle once they step down from UEFAcommittees (see box).UEFA Order of MeritIn 1998, for people who do notnecessarily belong to the UEFA bodies,but who have given outstanding serviceto football, UEFA introduced its Orderof Merit, which is split into three categories:diamond, ruby and emerald.Diamond is reserved for peoplewho have assumed the highestfunctions in football or have servedthe game with particular distinction.On these grounds, FIFA PresidentJoseph S. Blatter (Switzerland) has beenadded to the list of recipients, alongwith Egidius Braun (Germany), formerpresident of the German FootballAssociation and UEFA vice-presidentand treasurer; Antero da Silva Resende(Portugal), former member of theUEFA Executive Committee, presidentof the Portuguese Football Associationand member of the committee responsiblefor revising the UEFA Statutes;Erwin Himmelseher (Germany), whohas participated in the organisationof all major international footballevents since the 1974 World Cup;Klaus Hempel and Jürgen Lenz (Germany),co-founders of TEAM MarketingAG, UEFA’s commercial partnersince the creation of the UEFA ChampionsLeague; and Léon Straessle(Switzerland), Chairman of the UEFAAppeals Body from 1988 to 2002.The ruby award, for peoplewho have enjoyed a long career asa top-level official or technician,was presented to Rudolf Bata (CzechLennart JohanssonpresentsGerhard Aignerwith his honorarymembership certificate.UEFARepublic), former general secretary ofthe Czechoslovakian and Czech federations,former member of the UEFAControl and Disciplinary Body, FinanceCommittee and Stadium Committee;Valentin Ivanov (Russia), former playerfor Torpedo Moscow, Soviet international(59 caps), gold medallist atthe 1956 Olympic Games, coach ofTorpedo Moscow and Razha Casablanca;Josephine King (New Zealand),general secretary of the OceanianConfederation from 1987 to 2004,who has always maintained excellentrelations with UEFA; Edgar Obertüfer(Switzerland), former general secretaryof the Swiss Football Association,member of the UEFA Control andDisciplinary Committee from 1982to 1998 and current DisciplinaryInspector; Joseph A. Sacco (Malta),general secretary of the Maltese FootballAssociation from 1983 to 2000and former member of the UEFA FairPlay Committee; Torleif Sigurdsson(Faroe Islands), president of the FaroeIslands Football Association from 1981to 2002 and member of the Youthand Amateur Football Panel; GyörgySzilagyi (Hungary), member of variousUEFA panels and committees since1972, an expert in the Laws of theGame and fervent advocate of fair play.The UEFA emerald Order ofMerit was awarded for the first timeand its first two recipients are JacquesFerran (France), former chief editorof France Football magazine and, asa journalist for L’Equipe, a pioneer ofthe Champion Clubs’ Cup, for whichhe drafted the rules; and Miljan Miljanic(Serbia and Montenegro), formerplayer and coach of, among others,Red Star Belgrade, Real Madrid, Valenciaand the Yugoslavian nationalteam, former president and currenthonorary president of the YugoslavianFootball Association, director of thefootball coaches’ school of the Serbiaand Montenegro Football Association.04 uefadirect 6.04