European Club Forum HatTrick programme 08 UEFA

4.04
including
No. 24 – April 2004
European
Club Forum
HatTrick programme
03
08
UEFA mourns
Jacques Georges
10
Jubilee
events in Nyon
16
C OV E R
IN THIS ISSUE
A goal from Walter Pandiani (in red, up against
Stephen Appiah) gave Deportivo La Coruña
the upper hand in Turin, reinforcing their
first-leg win against 2003 UEFA Champions
League finalists Juventus.
European
Club Forum in Barcelona
03
Women Coaches’ Forum
06
PHOTO: SABATTINI
HatTrick assistance programme
08
UEFA mourns Jacques Georges
10
Jubilee events in Nyon
16
News from
member associations
17
Editorial
Time for direct dialogue
Even though modern technology makes all kinds of exceptions
possible, the base of a construction should always be wider than the top,
the same as a pyramid.
The structure of football follows this principle, with players, clubs,
and national associations making up the different levels of a pyramid
topped by the continental confederations and all under the umbrella
of FIFA. This structure has proved its worth. It assures the coherence of
football and operates on the principle of solidarity, thereby making the top
and the base interdependent.
In this system, UEFA’s direct partners are its
member associations. By means of a democratic system
of representation, it falls on their shoulders to defend
the interests of the players as well as the clubs, referees
and all the other components of the game. At national
level, it is also their job to strike a balance between
national-team and club football, a task which UEFA takes
on at international level.
This system is, however, cumbersome, which
weakens its effectiveness somewhat and makes it rather incompatible with
the demands of the modern world and the complexity of the problems,
which often concern one of the game’s components specifically and not
the whole structure.
Therefore, in order to work more efficiently and to continue
to manage European football well, but without dismantling the pyramid
principle, UEFA has inserted new platforms for direct communication into
its structure, such as the Professional Football Committee, in which the
professional leagues are directly represented, and the European Club
Forum, in which a hundred or so elite European clubs participating in the
UEFA competitions are involved.
These two consultative bodies have also proved their worth, which
should encourage us to take further steps in the dialogue between the
Executive Committee, the national associations, the leagues and the clubs,
under the umbrella of UEFA.
Over the last couple of months we have also initiated dialogue
between UEFA, the European Leagues and the players to create a platform
for further talks within the association football structure.
Lars-Christer Olsson
KEYSTONE
Chief Executive
Spain
(Juan Carlos Valeron)
and the other
15 finalists are into
their preparations
for EURO 2004.
we care about football
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European Club
Forum
The clubs have their say
THE “PLANET FÚTBOL” INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL FAIR PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR THE EUROPEAN CLUB FORUM TO HOLD ITS FIRST MEETING
OF THE YEAR AT THE PALACIO DE CONGRESOS IN BARCELONA ON 16 AND 17 FEBRUARY.
Most of the 102 clubs which
belong to this body attended the
meeting, at which several topical matters were discussed, including the
UEFA club licensing system, which,
starting with the 2004/05 season, will
determine whether a club can take
part in the UEFA club competitions.
Clubs will no longer be able to qualify
on sporting merit alone, but will also
have to have been granted a UEFAapproved licence by their national
association (or league).
All 52 UEFA member associations have submitted their club
licensing manuals and been accredited by UEFA. By 31 May, the associations now have to provide UEFA with
a list of licence-holding clubs. UEFA
will carry out selective checks within
certain national associations to make
sure that the clubs fulfil all the
criteria. These associations will be
selected by means of a draw, in addition to which the CEO will have the
right to request additional checks.
If, as a result, a club is refused access
to the UEFA competitions, it can be
replaced by another club from the
same association, provided, of course,
that the replacement club has been
properly licensed.
New UEFA Cup format
The Forum was also informed
about the conclusions and proposals
of a working group led by Roger Vanden Stock, Vice-Chairman of the Club
MIGUEL RUIZ
The participants – led by
Jean Fournet-Fayard – head into
the congress centre.
Competitions Committee, which
was set up to look into the running,
marketing and enhancement of the
new UEFA Cup, which will be played
with a mixed format of group
matches and direct knock-out, as
decided by the UEFA Executive
Committee last July. The meeting
then broke into four groups (based
on UEFA’s national association
coefficient rankings) to discuss different topics regarding the new
format. The conclusions of those
discussions were then summarised
in plenary session by the Forum’s
Chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
(FC Bayern Munich).
In terms of the competition
format itself, the Forum fully supported the conclusions and proposals of the working group. Subject
to the approval of the Executive
Committee in March, three geographical groups will be formed for
00
03
The Forum
in plenary
session.
Lars-Christer Olsson introduced
the discussion on relations with
the national teams.
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the draw for the qualifying round
and group matches, the order of
which will be determined by group
position, as in the UEFA Champions
League. The home club will be able
to set the kick-off time for the first
three match days. Then, to safeguard the integrity of the competition,
matches on the last two match days
will be played simultaneously, over
two days.
In order to enhance the
value of the competition, all the discussion groups agreed that the UEFA
Cup needed to be re-branded centrally and boosted by a strong visual
identity in the stadiums, to make the
competition instantly recognisable.
This re-branding should be financed
from sponsorship.
In contrast, the idea of central marketing as from the quarterfinals did not meet with unanimous
Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge,
Chairman of
the European
Club Forum.
support, mainly because of the problems it could cause with contracts
still in force.
In the end, the Forum
agreed with its chairman, who proposed that the first two seasons
under the new format should be
used to observe, leaving it up to the
clubs to market their own matches,
and that an evaluation should then
be carried out before deciding how
to proceed.
Relations with the national teams
On the second day of its
meeting, the Forum considered its
composition for the 2004–2006
period. The member clubs will again
be selected on the basis of the UEFA
coefficients. The corresponding list
will be compiled at the end of May.
The Board will continue to consist of
11 members, each of a different
nationality, four of whom will also
sit on the Club Competitions Committee. Whereas the Board members
were appointed on the basis of the
club coefficients for the Forum’s first
term, this time it will be up to the
four groups to elect Board representatives in September. While it is the
clubs that are represented in the
Forum, Board members are expected
to represent the body as a whole,
for the sake of the continuity of its
work. The new Board will elect its
own chairman and three vice-chairmen
in September.
In the case of both the
Forum and the Board, terms are for
two years. The Forum is required
to meet at least twice a year, and the
Board at least four times.
Following a presentation by
UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer
Olsson, attention turned to nationalteam-related issues, including the
question of financial compensation
to clubs for releasing players for
national-team duty for the major international tournaments (World Cup
and continental championship). On
this point, the Forum was unanimous,
stressing its desire to continue to
support national-team football, but
feeling that the current situation
inconvenienced the clubs and calling
for a solution to be found as quickly
as possible which would make “the
whole football family happy, even
the clubs,” to quote Chairman KarlHeinz Rummenigge.
The same unanimity
reigned in respect of any idea to
introduce salary caps. The clubs had
faith in the laws of the market, and
were also counting on the UEFA club
licensing system to control the
situation.
The Forum came out even more
strongly against any involvement in a
Club World Championship, despite the
fact that it had now been incorporated
into the FIFA Statutes. The clubs felt that
there was absolutely no room in the
congested match calendar for such a
competition which, moreover, would
be in total contradiction with the recent
reduction in the number of UEFA Champions League matches.
Lars-Christer Olsson
and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
visit the fair.
The
top
table.
The clubs clearly appreciate
this platform for expressing themselves
freely and making their views and suggestions known to UEFA. They therefore welcomed the idea put forward by
the UEFA Chief Executive of setting up
a new UEFA body, in which representatives of the Executive Committee, the
national associations, the professional
leagues and the clubs could process
multilateral problems directly.
PHOTOS: MIGUEL RUIZ
Group
discussion.
International football fair
After the Forum, the participants visited the “Planet Fútbol” international football fair next door on its opening day.
Taking place for the third time, after Barcelona in February 2002
and Madrid in March 2003, this vast one-week fair covers the whole
football environment. The Spanish FA had a stand devoted to fair play,
and the big clubs were there too, as were suppliers of equipment and
training apparatus, the media and other football-related businesses.
Mini-pitches gave visitors the opportunity to play a bit of football or
futsal and to test their skills. The fair also includes seminars, and this
year a management course was organised for the directors of professional football clubs. Visits from top players and special matches, such
as a senior international match between Spain and Peru (2-1), added
to the popularity of the event.
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00
UEFA
AFP/EMMERT
SPORTIMAGE/PRESSE SPORTS
The Forum
participants.
Many World
Cup goals
were scored
from
set pieces.
Women’s football
National coaches’ forum
ON 12 FEBRUARY, THE LEADING COACHES IN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL MET AT THE HOUSE
OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL IN NYON.
Women’s club football
is firmly established
in some countries,
like Sweden
(a Svenska Cup tie
between Djurgarden/Alvsjö
and Umea).
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BILDBYRAN
The coaches included Tina
Theune-Meyer, who led Germany
to the FIFA Women’s World Cup title
last year, French coach Elisabeth
Loisel, Hope Powell from England,
Italian coach Carolina Morace and
Russia’s Yury Bystritskiy. UEFA
Technical Director Andy Roxburgh
chaired the meeting, with Karen
Espelund also involved in the discussions.
Subjects covered during the
productive afternoon included a
review of last year’s FIFA Women’s
World Cup, how standards can be
raised within the European women’s
game, the future organisation of
UEFA’s women’s competitions and
a look at the evolving tactical trends
within the women’s game.
The coaches felt that the
World Cup had been an excellent
advert for the women’s game,
reflecting particularly well on
the European representatives. Both
finalists came from Europe – Germany defeating Sweden thanks to
a golden goal.
It was felt that the top European countries in women’s football
were benefiting from having strong,
well-organised domestic club
structures, and that this should
set an example for other countries to follow. The elite centre
run by the French Football
Federation was cited as a successful example of coaching
and developing the
skills of young female
players. The fruits of
this were borne in
Leipzig in July 2003
when France won
the UEFA Women’s
Under-19 Championship in some style.
UEFA was encouraged to place continual
emphasis on marketing
and promotion of the
women’s game and
to bring coaches and
coach educators
together for regular
seminars. Welltrained coaches
would produce
quality women footballers, and
efforts should be stepped up to
encourage players to become
qualified coaches so they could
pass on their experience to future
generations.
Some of the top coaches
expressed support for the abolition
of the two strength pools adopted
in European Women’s Championship
qualifying phases, to give more
countries the chance of measuring
themselves at the highest level.
Others urged UEFA to consider
launching a girls’ Under-17 Championship at some stage in the future
to run alongside the European
Women’s Under-19 Championship.
From a tactical point of view,
the fact that more than a third of
the goals in the last Women’s World
Cup came from set-piece situations
highlighted better delivery of the
ball, while heading has improved
dramatically, together with the standard of goalkeeping at the top level.
Skills have progressed at a rapid
pace over the last four years.
Summarising, UEFA Chief
Executive Lars-Christer Olsson
believed that the future development
of football lies in the national associations investing in the grassroots
of the women’s game. “Women’s
football has come a long way over
the years, and is now being
accepted on its own merits – it has
its own appeal,” he said. “It is important that we build from the ground,
and each country has to invest
in its basic structures to make the
women’s game sustainable in the
future, and to make it possible for
UEFA to develop our competitions.”
The Gaston Petit
stadium in
Châteauroux,
where the final
will be
played in 2004.
FFF
UEFA
Portugal
won the
competition
in 2003.
Under-17
final round
Numerous events
A MONTH BEFORE EURO 2004 IS HELD IN PORTUGAL IN JUNE, THE EYES OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL WILL BE TURNED TOWARDS
FRANCE, PARTICULARLY THE CENTRE REGION, WHICH WILL HOST THE 2004 EUROPEAN UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP.
to help with organisational tasks
linked to the reception of visitors,
entertainment and security.
As far as private firms are
concerned, at least four hotels and
several caterers will provide accommodation and food, two transport
companies will help the officials and
teams get from A to B, the event is
being promoted by a group of three
firms, while the marketing unit
is assisted by around 20 companies.
Young people, whether footballers or just spectators, will also be
involved, with plenty of entertainment
to be provided by primary schools
(55 classes in Blois on the opening
day, 19 classes in Romorantin), secondary schools and the Training
Centre for Young Footballers (aged
13 to 15), based in Châteauroux.
Two months before the start
of the competition, the local organising committee is now in a much
more intensive phase of preparation. Having visited the venues in
December and again in early
February, representatives of
UEFA and the French Football
Federation have seen the current state
of progress for themselves.
Seven stadiums have been
chosen to stage the matches
between the eight finalists: Group
A games (with France the top
seeds) will be played in
Amboise, Blois and Romorantin, while
Group B matches will take place in
Avoine, Tours and Saint-Cyr sur l’Oire.
The semi-finals will be played in Tours
and Blois, with the final in Châteauroux
on Saturday 15 May.
The next major event, which
will properly launch the competition,
will be the draw, to be held on Friday
2 April in the Château de Blois, more
specifically in the “Salle des Etats
Généraux” (States General Hall), from
where the complaints of the
French people were dispatched
to Louis XVI in 1789.
Yann Le Guillard
France will try to do
as well on home ground
as they did in 2002,
when they reached the final.
UEFA
Having gained tremendous
experience as hosts of previous international tournaments (1996 European
Under-18 Championship in Besan,con,
1998 World Cup, 2003
Confederations Cup),
France was asked by
UEFA to organise the
3rd European Under-17
Championship from
4 to 15 May 2004. For nearly two
years now, the logistical wheels have
been turning, particularly at regional
level, in an effort to ensure the event
is a success.
The Centre Football League
mobilised the whole regional football
family to support its bid. And since
being selected, the energy put in has
generated a real surge of support and
participation across the whole region.
Around 200 people will be employed
full time throughout the tournament,
with another 100 to 150 stationed
in each stadium on match days. The
Centre Football League is devoting
more than 150 man-hours per week to
preparations for the competition, not
to mention the work being carried out
by partner organisations.
Clearly, numerous private and
public bodies are affected by the
event. The Centre regional council,
departmental councils and town
councils as well as football clubs and
associations will make staff available
07
UEFA
UEFA
The
Assistance
Programmes
Committee
meeting
in Nyon
in February.
Assistance
programmes
U n d e r t h e “ H a t Tr i c k ” b a n n e r
ACCORDING TO ITS STATUTES, UEFA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROMOTING FOOTBALL IN EUROPE, A TASK WHICH REQUIRES NOT ONLY
A SUITABLE STRUCTURE AND SPECIFIC EXPERTISE, BUT FINANCIAL RESOURCES AS WELL.
UEFA draws most of its
income from two of its competitions:
the European Championship finals
involving national teams, and the UEFA
Champions League for clubs. It is
only fair that the participants in these
two competitions should benefit
most from the income they generate.
For example, the clubs involved in
the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League
shared more than CHF 820 million
between them; the 16 participants
in EURO 2004 in Portugal will receive
a total of CHF 200 million in prize
money.
In accordance with the solidarity principle adopted by UEFA,
money from these competitions also
helps the other national associations,
EMPICS
Stadium construction
projects can benefit from
the HatTrick programme.
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uefadirect 4.04
leagues and clubs. As far as the
national associations are concerned,
UEFA’s primary concern has been
to help those with the most urgent
needs, with funds poured into the
East European Assistance Bureau
(EEAB) between 1994 and 2003. In
2000, an additional programme was
launched, this time open to all
member associations: the Kiosk
programme provided assistance to
enable them to carry out specific
projects.
Four-year plan
Delegates at the 2003
Rome Congress were
informed about a new
programme, HatTrick,
also aimed at all the national associations and replacing both the EEAB
and Kiosk. This programme was
launched in August 2003 and will run
until 2008. It aims to assist UEFA’s
member associations with the funding of projects designed to develop
and improve football infrastructures
in general.
HatTrick has three main
elements:
● direct financial support in the
form of one-off grants;
● payments for the construction of
mini-pitches as part of the UEFA
Golden Jubilee celebrations;
● assistance with training.
Enhancing infrastructure
Each association is entitled to
a one-off grant of up to CHF 2.5 million. In order to apply, the association
must submit to UEFA a project involving stadium construction or renovation, pitch installation or the development of training centres or administrative offices for the association; in
short, any project designed to enhance
football infrastructures. In principle,
these projects should be new, since
projects that have already been completed and paid for cannot be funded
retroactively; if they are worth less
than CHF 2.5 million, the national
association concerned may submit up
to five projects in all.
UEFA has earmarked more
than CHF 400 million for its
member associations over the
2004–08 period. As well as the
HatTrick programme, its associations will each receive an
annual basic solidarity payment
of CHF 500,000.
An additional CHF 250,000
will be paid, also each year,
for the implementation of the
club licensing system; the
same amount (CHF 250,000)
will be given to fund the participation of national teams in
youth and women’s competitions (less for associations
which are not represented in all
the UEFA competitions).
BONGARTS
BONGARTS
Other forms of assistance
As well as the HatTrick programme, UEFA’s assistance policy is
based on two other initiatives:
● the Meridian project, which involves
collaboration with the African
confederation (CAF) and has three
elements: the Meridian Cup for
footballers aged under 17 in the two
continents, direct assistance to
two African national associations
(currently Ethiopia and the Central
African Republic) and partnerships
between CAF and UEFA national
associations;
● the charity portfolio: the fines
imposed by the UEFA disciplinary
bodies in relation to European
competitions (which can exceed
CHF 3 million per season) are used
to support football-related charitable projects.
●
The UEFA charity portfolio is
composed of the following organisations:
● Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia
(SOEE), which promotes sport for
people with learning disabilities;
At its annual gala in
Monaco, UEFA also donates a cheque
for CHF 1 million to a charity,
which may or may not be part of its
portfolio.
●
●
Football Against Racism in
Europe (FARE), a network seeking
to remove racism from European
stadiums;
Danish Open Fun Football, a
Danish project aiming to improve
peaceful relations between
children in the Balkans and the
Caucasus;
International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), which
receives support from UEFA for
programmes such as its campaign against antipersonnel
mines (manufacture of artificial
limbs to facilitate the practice
of sport, for example) or the
“Let us play” campaign to protect children in countries at war,
launched in conjunction with
EURO 2004.
The Meridian Cup
was launched in 1997,
when the first
tournament took place
in Portugal (Spain
vs Nigeria in the final).
AFP/COTRIM
Solidarity
payments
SPORTIMAGE
SPORTIMAGE
Once they have been examined by the UEFA administration’s
Assistance Programmes Unit, the
projects are submitted for approval
to the HatTrick Board, which comprises three Executive Committee
members (Mathieu Sprengers, Chairman, Marios Lefkaritis and Geoffrey
Thompson) and three UEFA directors. If approved, the project can be
launched under the supervision of
the Assistance Programmes Unit.
UEFA may transfer the funds in one
go or in several instalments, depending on the nature of the project.
It always gives the money to the
national association rather than to the
companies carrying out the work or
suppliers.
By the end of February,
projects from eight associations had
been approved.
The UEFA Champions
League (FC Porto
vs Manchester United)
and the European
Championship (Slovenia
vs France qualifier)
are UEFA’s two main
sources of revenue.
09
At the Paris
Congress
after he had
been
confirmed
as UEFA’s
president.
SABE
UEFA
A proud
moment for
Jacques Georges
when he
presented the
Henri Delaunay
Cup to Michel
Platini in 1984
(below).
UEFA
in
mourning
Death of Jacques Georges
IN THE MIDST OF THE CELEBRATIONS, UEFA’S GOLDEN JUBILEE
YEAR HAS BEEN TINGED WITH SADNESS, FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF ONE OF ITS
ONZE MONDIAL/FLASHPRESS
FIGUREHEADS ON 25 FEBRUARY.
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uefadirect 4.04
UEFA vice-president at the
time, Jacques Georges became
acting UEFA president following the
death of Artemio Franchi in a
road accident on 12 August 1983.
It was a role for which he was well
equipped, having served the French
Football Federation for many years,
including as its president, and then
becoming familiar with the workings of UEFA, notably alongside
Artemio Franchi, whom he held in
great admiration.
At the Paris Congress in
1984, he was confirmed by acclamation as head of UEFA, and one of his
first and proudest duties was to
present the Henri Delaunay Cup to
his compatriot Michel Platini after
France had won a major international
competition for the first time in the
nation’s history.
One year later, his joy became
a nightmare, when the European
Champion Clubs’ Cup final at the
Heysel Stadium turned into a tragedy
before it had even kicked off, costing
39 spectators their lives and injuring
several hundred others.
The crisis committee’s decision to allow the match to go ahead
appalled some, but Jacques Georges
shouldered their criticism with
dignity, knowing that it had been
taken for no other reason than to
prevent an even greater tragedy and
that it had absolutely nothing to do
with the purse-lining mentality of
“the show must go on”, which was
not his style at all.
Though marked for life by
this tragedy, Jacques Georges found
the strength to look forward at a
time when some were questioning
the very existence of the UEFA competitions. Convinced of the positive
values of football, he did not want
the game to be associated with the
blot that had marred its landscape
on that sad evening in May 1985
and which was so remote from the
very nature of football. It was a time
of reflection, of safety and security
measures the likes of which had
never been seen before, and of difficult sporting decisions, such as the
exclusion of English clubs. Nothing
less would have enabled football to
regain the confidence of the public,
the authorities and the business
partners, though this was certainly
not the main concern of Jacques
Georges, who stood for human and
sporting values above all.
Without this faith in football
and without these meticulous efforts
to improve safety and security, the
UEFA competitions would never
have reached the heights they have
today, and UEFA would never have
become the widely recognised institution that it now is.
UEFA
ZIMMI-PRESS
Jacques Georges
met up again
with former UEFA
General Secretary
Hans Bangerter
in Nyon in
November 2003.
travel involved, he continued to
back on track, and when the time
attend meetings of the UEFA
came for the English clubs to take
Executive Committee. He was in
part in the UEFA competitions again,
fact at the Committee’s first meet-
Jacques Georges decided to retire
ing of this year in Nyon in Febru-
from the UEFA presidency as his
ary. Although he was not totally in
health had been affected by these
favour of the growing commer-
events and he was not a man who
cialisation of football, he did not
was fond of honours. He did not,
let it show, and he left it up to the
however, lose interest in football and
current leaders to assume their
continued to take a close interest
responsibilities just as he had
in its affairs. He even returned
assumed his, but not hesitating to
to the president’s seat in the French
offer advice and giving his opinion
Football Federation for a while,
when asked.
These meetings were also
to help it through a difficult time.
At the UEFA Congress in Malta in
an opportunity for him to meet
1990, he was made Honorary Presi-
up with some of those who had
dent of the organisation.
travelled the same long road with
When his health permitted
and when there was not too much
him in the world of football, a world
in which he will be sorely missed.
A life of service
to football
AFP/VERHAEGEN
The funeral of Jacques
Georges took place in the presence of many representatives
from the world of football at
Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle in the
Vosges region of France, where
he was born and when he had
Issa Hayatou, Claude Simonet
kept his roots.
and Lennart Johansson attended the funeral.
Born on 30 May 1916,
Jacques Georges, scaled all the
rungs of the classic career of a football official, after a playing career which
was disrupted by the war. He served as club chairman as well as at the helm
of a regional league; in 1969, he became president of the French Football
Federation, a position which he held until 1972, when he was elected to the
UEFA Executive Committee. He became a UEFA vice-president in 1976 and then
stepped into the president’s role in 1983, following the death of Artemio
Franchi. Confirmed as UEFA president at the Congress in Paris in 1984 and
re-elected in Cascais in 1986, he stepped down at the Malta Congress in 1990,
when he was made Honorary President.
Jacques Georges also served as a FIFA vice-president from 1984 to 1994,
and then became an honorary member.
UEFA-ARCHIVES
Once European football was
With German
Chancellor
Helmut Kohl
presenting
the European
Championship
trophy to Ruud
Gullit in 1988.
With former UEFA president Artemio Franchi.
Tributes
Moving tributes have been paid to
Jacques Georges.
UEFA President Lennart Johansson
said, “He led UEFA and European
football through some troubled waters
in the 1980s and into a new era.
Jacques Georges was a great man
and the entire football world will
miss him.”
UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer
Olsson: “Jacques Georges served
football throughout his whole life and
will be sorely missed by all who knew
him or came into contact with him.
He will be remembered as one of
the true pioneers of European football
and a man who had football in his
heart.”
Gerhard Aigner, retired UEFA
Chief Executive: “Jacques Georges was
a real football fan and a gentleman,
and gave all his spare time to continuing to be involved in the game. I can
only use his own words to describe
his love for the game when he said,
’60 years ago I started getting
involved in football. I’m completely
intoxicated, I live and breathe football
at all times’.”
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter:
“I am deeply grieved by his passing.
It was always a privilege for me to be
able to rely on his warm-hearted
friendship and loyalty, and his wise
counsel invariably helped me in my
career.”
Claude Simonet, President of the
French Football Federation: “I am personally grieving the loss of a genuine
and loyal friend, and my ‘spiritual
father’.”
11
It is
important
for detainees
to have
contact with
the outside
world.
Freeopera
also have
their
loyal supporters.
Football in prison
Contact with the outside world
BRINGING THE JOHN HUSTON FILM “VICTORY”, IN WHICH PELE APPEARED,
TO LIFE, THE ITALIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION (FIGC) HAS GIVEN A PRISON TEAM
PERMISSION TO PLAY IN THE AMATEUR THIRD DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP.
Championship match against Bolgiano
(in red and white).
The team is called “Freeopera”,
after the Opera prison on the outskirts of Milan, which houses 1,400
prisoners in a structure which is a
vanguard of its type in Italy.
The idea is the brainchild of
prison governor Alberto Fragomeni
and stems from the inmates’ keen
interest in football, a phenomenon
which arouses great passion and
attention in all strata of Italian society,
without distinction of sex, age and
social class. The fundamental aspect
of the initiative lies in the use of the
30 championship matches as opportunities to give people in the outside
world, and notably the political,
social and sports worlds, a closer
insight into prison life.
For obvious security reasons, the Freeopera team enjoys
the advantage of playing all
its matches at home, on a
perfectly conventional
ground inside the prison
confines. The squad consists of 30 players, who
have been picked for their
skills by former professional footballer Marcho Nichetti, who played
Serie A football with Inter. Among the
30 are five foreign players.
For each match, the visiting
delegation comprises 50 people –
players, technicians, officials and
fans, thereby underlining the value of
the project as a means of establishing, through football, a stable connection between the outside world
and the “inside” world. The idea is to
give those inside a clearer picture
of the reality outside the prison
gates, a world which the inmates will
have to face again sooner or later.
Alongside the prisoners’
team, the FIGC has also registered
a team of prison officers from the
same prison, called the “Frecce
Azzurre” (Blue Arrows). The prisoners
and prison officers train together
and will have the opportunity to meet
in a derby, to the great delight of
the 500 or so spectators (the other
prisoners), who regularly watch the
matches. There are even some
women prisoners in the crowd, who
are just as keen on football as
their male counterparts and lead
the cheering.
Sergio Di Cesare
Wide support
PHOTOS: UEFA/BOZZANI
The Opera prison, one of the largest in Italy, houses some 1,400 detainees,
including about 70 women. Built in 1988 on a surface area of some 230,000 m2,
it employs a workforce of 800 prison guards and specialists.
The involvement of the Freeopera team in the championship also owes
a great deal to the Brera Calcio club and its chairman Alessandro Aleotti, who is
lending a hand in terms of administration and organisation, as well as to the
FIGC’s Lombardy amateur league, which has secured the agreement of all the
teams concerned to play both their home and away ties against Freeopera inside
the prison.
The championship got under way on 28 September and concludes in May.
12
uefadirect 4.04
Background
briefing
The European Parliament
Report
The European Parliament is the
only directly elected institution
of the European Union. Elections take
place every five years, and the next
are set for 10–13 June this summer.
from Brussels
UEFA AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ARE PLANNING TO BRING UEFA’S JUBILEE
CELEBRATIONS TO BRUSSELS LATER THIS YEAR. WITH THE SUPPORT
OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL MUSEUM, BASED IN THE NORTH-WEST OF ENGLAND,
UEFA WILL BE HOSTING A JUBILEE EXHIBITION FROM 20 SEPTEMBER TO 1 OCTOBER
IN THE MAIN BUILDING OF THE PARLIAMENT.
The exhibition will offer two
perspectives of European football:
a historical overview of the important
milestones both on and off the field
of play, and, looking ahead, a vision
of what UEFA is doing now to help
build the future. It will naturally offer
a fair share of football action. But
UEFA will also encourage this special
political audience to look beyond the
goals and the glory. The exhibition
will bring to life UEFA’s social and
political role, from the fight against
racism to the solidarity mechanisms
that spread prosperity around the
football family.
The timing of the Jubilee
Exhibition could not be better.
2004 will be a year of important
political change in Brussels, and UEFA
must be sensitive to the developments as they unfold.
First and foremost, the eastward expansion of the EU becomes
a reality on 1 May, when ten new
Member States join the club.
After five years of tough negotiations, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia finally take their place at the
EU table. One month later, elections to the European Parliament
will take place just as EURO 2004
kicks off. The ten new Member
States will be participating in these
elections for the first time, each
sending its own group of deputies
to the Parliament. Finally, in November, a new European Commission
will take office.
With all these major political changes happening at the
same time, the Jubilee Exhibition
gives UEFA an opportunity to
start building the new relationships that will matter over the next
five years.
Human faces of the EU
CHRIS HEATON-HARRIS, MPE
Chris Heaton-Harris has been a Member of the European
Parliament since 1999. This summer, he will be standing for re-election
to one of the Parliament’s 732 seats.
In 2003, Mr Heaton-Harris helped UEFA to create the “Friends
of Football”, an informal group of a dozen MEPs with a personal
interest in football. He coordinates the group within the Parliament
and maintains regular contact with UEFA’s Brussels office. He is also
supporting UEFA’s efforts to hold a Jubilee Exhibition in Brussels
later this year.
As a member of the UK Conservative Party, Mr Heaton-Harris belongs to the
Group of the European People’s Party. He is also a ‘Class 1’ football referee in England,
where he still officiates games at amateur level.
After the accession of ten new
Member States on 1 May this year,
the Parliament will have 732 Members. The Members of the European
Parliament (MEPs) spend a large
part of their time in Brussels, where
more than a dozen specialist committees scrutinise proposals for new
EU laws. One of these, the Culture
Committee, looks at sports issues.
Parliament also meets for one week
a month in Strasbourg, where
plenary sessions involving all MEPs
amend and vote new legislation.
The new EU Constitutional
Treaty, which is still on the negotiating table, will give the Parliament
new powers. In addition to their
growing role as legislators, MEPs
approve the appointment of the
European Commission, decide the
EU budget with the member states,
monitor spending, approve international agreements, and generally
hold the European Commission
to account.
MEPs do not sit in national delegations in the Parliament, but in
multinational political groups. The
centre-right European People’s Party
and European Democrats (EPP) is
the largest political group, followed
by the Party of European Socialists
and the European Liberal Group.
The European Parliament’s
budget for the year 2002 was
around 900 million euros. This
covers staff costs, buildings, MEPs’
travel allowances and expenses.
The Parliament employs around
4,000 people, a third of whom work
in the linguistic services covering a
total of 11 working languages.
13
UEFA
EMPICS
AFP/BARKER
AFP/BARKER
EMPICS/BUZZI
Franco Carraro
Reigning UEFA Cup
title-holders FC Porto produced
shock in the first knock-out
round of the UEFA Champions
League by knocking out
Manchester United.
(Deco up against Darren Flecher.)
Ronaldinho
sandwiched
between two
Celtic players
in the UEFA
Cup match between Celtic
and Barcelona.
Meetings and
other
activities
Ten candidates for seven seats
Viacheslav Koloskov
PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED BY MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
THE XXVIII ORDINARY UEFA CONGRESS OPENS IN LIMASSOL ON 22 APRIL WITH
UEFA
UEFA
A GOLDEN JUBILEE CEREMONY.
Vlatko Markovic
UEFA
Gilberto Madail
UEFA
Marios N. Lefkaritis
Gerhard
Mayer-Vorfelder
The Congress will get down
to work the next morning, when one
of the highlights will be the elections
for the UEFA and FIFA Executive
Committees. (Though the Congress
is now an annual event, elections
only take place every second year.)
By the deadline of 22
February, UEFA had received ten
candidatures for its Executive
Committee, including those of the
seven members whose terms are
expiring. All ten candidates are well
known in European football.
●
Franco Carraro (Italy), born
on 6 December 1939, president
of the Italian FA and special
adviser to the UEFA Executive
Committee on EU-related matters.
●
Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia),
born on 15 June 1941, president
of the Russian FA, member of
the UEFA Executive Committee
since 1994 and also member of
FIFA Executive Committee.
●
Marios N. Lefkaritis (Cyprus),
born on 28 November 1946,
honorary president of the
Cyprus FA and member of
the UEFA Executive Committee
since 1996.
●
Gilberto Madail (Portugal), born
on 14 December 1944, president
of the Portuguese FA and chairman of the Euro 2004, S.A.
Board, co-opted member of the
National Teams Committee.
Mathieu Sprengers
14
UEFA
Per Ravn Omdal
UEFA
Joseph Mifsud
UEFA
UEFA
FIFA Executive Committee
Geoffrey Thompson
uefadirect 4.04
The UEFA Congress will also be called upon to elect four European
representatives to the FIFA Executive Committee. Five candidatures
have been submitted, four of them from the members whose terms
are expiring.
● Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), born on 8 December 1945, member
of the FIFA Executive Committee since 1988.
● Senes Erzik (Turkey), born on 18 September 1942, member of the
FIFA Executive Committee since 1996 and a UEFA vice-president.
● Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia), member of the FIFA Executive
Committee since 2000 and previously a FIFA vice-president from
1980 to 1996 and a FIFA Executive Committee member from
1996 to 1998.
● Michel Platini (France), born on 21 June 1955, member of the
FIFA Executive Committee since 2000 and also member of the UEFA
Executive Committee.
● The fifth candidate is Gilberto Madail (Portugal).
The design
for the
UEFA Cup
final in
Gothenburg.
Vlatko Markovic (Croatia),
born on 1 January 1937, president
of the Croatian FA and member
of the UEFA Technical Development
Committee.
●
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder
(Germany), born on 3 March 1933,
president of the German FA,
member of the UEFA Executive
Committee since 2000 and also
member of the FIFA Executive
Committee.
●
Joseph Mifsud (Malta),
born on 13 August 1950, president
of the Malta FA and member
of the UEFA Executive Committee
since 1994.
●
●
●
Per Ravn Omdal (Norway),
born on 20 August 1947, president
of the Norwegian FA, UEFA vicepresident since 1996 and member
of the UEFA Executive Committee
since 1992.
Mathieu Sprengers (Netherlands),
born on 24 May 1938, president of
the Dutch FA, UEFA treasurer since
2000 and member of the UEFA
Executive Committee since 1996.
Geoffrey Thompson (England),
born on 23 August 1945, chairman
of The Football Association,
UEFA vice-president since 2002 and
member of the UEFA Executive
Committee since 2000.
Coach educators’ course
in Crete
The 14th UEFA Course
for Coach Educators will take place
in Crete from 29 March to 2 April.
Under the theme “football
philosophies”, the focus will be on
different coaching approaches, styles
of play and the role of philosophy
in football within the context of coach
education.
All UEFA member associations
have been invited to send a senior
coach educator to the course, who will
then be able to pass on what he learns
to his colleagues at national level.
UEFA Champions League
quarter-finals
In March, the UEFA
Champions League moved into
its direct knock-out phase.
The first knock-out round produced some prominent casualties,
including three former winners of the
competition: Bayern
Munich, Manchester
United and one of last
year’s finalists, Juventus.
England, France and
Spain still have two representatives
apiece in the running, while Italy
and Portugal each have one club left
in the race.
The draw for the quarter-finals
was made in Nyon on 12 March:
A: AC Milan – Deportivo La Coruña
B: Chelsea FC – Arsenal FC
C: Real Madrid – AS Monaco
D: FC Porto – Olympique Lyonnais
The draw for the order of the
semi-finals was also made:
Winners B – Winners C
Winners A – Winners D
■ In the UEFA Cup, the fourth
round was played in March. Meanwhile,
on 10 February, the design for the
final was presented at the Ullevi
stadium in Gothenburg.
The design will be used
inside and outside the stadium
as well as on tickets and around
the city. It was unveiled
by two former UEFA Cup
winners: Thomas
Wernerson, who won
the competition in
1982 and 1987 when
he was playing for IFK
Göteborg, and Torbjörn
Nilsson, who was also
part of the 1982 winning team.
UEFA
The 2003 UEFA
Regions’ Cup
was won by the
team representing
the Piedmont/Aosta
Valley region,
who beat
Ligue du Maine
in the final.
There will also be the draw
for the 2004/05 European Women’s
Under-19 Championship, which
43 associations have entered, including four debutantes: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Kazakhstan.
The first qualifying round involves
40 of the entrants.
The other draw concerns
the 4th UEFA Regions’ Cup, which
37 associations have entered.
For the first time, geographical criteria
are being used for the draw.
Announcements
■ At its general assembly in
February, the Luxembourg FA elected
a new president: Paul Philipp.
■ The draw for the qualifying
round of EURO 2008 in Austria and
Switzerland will take place in Switzerland on 27 January 2006.
Obituary
■ Heinrich Röthlisberger,
president of the Swiss FA from 1983
to 1989, died on 1 March, aged 73,
after a long illness. He was a member
of the Committee for the European
Championship from 1984 to 1992.
Olympique Lyonnais
(Florent Malouda, in front)
have qualified
for the UEFA Champions
League quarter-finals
at the expense
of Real Sociedad.
Draws in Blois
On 2 April, the French
city of Blois will be the
venue for three draws,
including for the final
round of the European
Under-17 Championship.
FLASHPRESS
●
BILDBYRAN
UEFA
The UEFA
Cup draw
in Nyon
on 4 March.
15
Gerhard Aigner
and the mayor
of Nyon,
Alain-Valery
Poitry.
A multisport
field.
Lars-Christer
Olsson
displays
the UEFA
commemorative
stamp.
UEFA Golden Jubilee
O n e d a y, t w o e v e n t s
ON 9 MARCH, UEFA INAUGURATED A MINI-PITCH IN ITS HOME TOWN OF NYON AND UNVEILED A SPECIAL
COMMEMORATIVE STAMP ISSUED BY THE SWISS POST OFFICE.
PHOTOS: UEFA/WOODS
The day began with the
inauguration of the multisport minipitch that UEFA has offered the
town of Nyon, where the administration has been based since 1995.
Former UEFA Chief Executive
Gerhard Aigner handed the facility
over to the Nyon authorities in a
pitch-side ceremony.
The pitch is suitable for
football, basketball and many other
sports. Local schoolchildren demonstrated some of the possibilities
offered by this type of facility during the ceremony.
Bernard Challandes, coach
of Switzerland’s Under-21 team,
was invited to the event to represent youth football. He stressed the
importance of supporting the base
of the football pyramid. “Football is
not just the top players; it’s also
and above all the youth and ama-
16
teur players, which is why it’s so
important to promote mini-pitches
likes this”, he said.
At midday, attention then
turned to the ceremony to unveil the
UEFA Golden Jubilee commemorative
stamp. Representatives of the Swiss
post office presented the stamp
officially to UEFA Chief Executive
Lars-Christer Olsson at the House of
European Football in Nyon.
“This is a very important
event for UEFA”, said Lars-Christer
Olsson. “It’s an honour for UEFA to
feature on a stamp. This is the
culmination of one of the first
projects proposed three years ago
when we started thinking about
how to celebrate UEFA’s Golden
Jubilee. The fact that UEFA’s name
and the jubilee logo will be
appearing on mail being sent in
Switzerland and abroad is an
A giant stamp for a group of Nyon
schoolchildren.
uefadirect 4.04
extremely effective way to draw
public attention to this important
anniversary.”
The Swiss post office
decided to commemorate the first
50 years of UEFA’s dedication to
football by issuing a stamp depicting players in action, symbolising
the movement and passion of football. Designer Wolf Henkel said that
it had been a real challenge to
come up with this design; he had
looked at dozens of photos before
falling upon the right image and
the right figure with which to produce the final design.
On the same day, the Swiss
post office also paid tribute to FIFA,
which is celebrating its centenary
this year, by issuing a stamp in its
honour. The FIFA commemorative
stamp is the first in Switzerland
to be in the shape of a pennant,
symbolising the friendship shared
between players at the start of
a match. The FIFA and UEFA commemorative stamps are available
from all Swiss post offices and
stamp dealers, as well as from
www.poste.ch/philashop.
In April, uefa.com
continues its
special jubilee
reports on UEFA
member associations by featuring England, Estonia, the Faroe
Islands and Finland.
FAF
D. AQUILINA
ANDORRA
The
Andorran
FA’s stand
at Planet
Fútbol.
News
from member associations
ANDORRA
Present
at Planet Fútbol
From 17 to 22 February in
Barcelona, the Andorran FA took part in Planet
Fútbol for the first time, giving the thousands of visitors the opportunity to find out
about the association’s different activities
and discover how it is celebrating its tenth
anniversary.
The association’s stand was in the
main pavilion, where it rubbed shoulders with
the stands of important associations and
clubs such as the Spanish FA, RCD Espanyol,
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. This advantageous situation ensured that many visitors
passed our way and learned about our tournaments, camps, grassroots football activities
and national team, among other things.
A screen traced the ten-year history
of our association in image, notably our
national team’s matches against France,
Brazil, the Netherlands and the Republic of
Ireland, as well as various football and futsal
tournaments. The stand was decorated with
first-division shirts as well as pennants
and souvenir shirts from important matches.
Our presence at Planet Fútbol also
allowed the general public and football
professionals to see how we are celebrating
our tenth anniversary. Among other events,
there will be friendly matches against Spain
and France, as well as a Francesc Vila memorial tournament in which some renowned
European clubs will be taking part.
Miquel Angel Quiñones
BELARUS
ball into the back of the net five times in
three matches, which in the process also
made him his country’s leading scorer, with
a total of ten goals to date.
Earlier, the Under-21 side of Yury
Puntus represented their country in the tournament in Malta and came home with the
trophy – a tremendous feat. After the European Under-21 Championship final round in
Germany, many of these players will be taking
their place in the senior national team.
Off the field, construction work
on the “House of Football” will start soon on
a site near to the indoor arena in Minsk.
The Belarus FA has already acquired the
land, received planning permission and completed other preparatory work regarding
the project. The office is being built within
the framework of the football development
programme in Belarus and under the personal
patronage of the country’s president,
Alexander Lukashenko. It is scheduled for
completion in December.
Sviatoslav Kiselev
BELARUS
Goalkeeper
and captain
Yury Zhevnov
receives
the trophy
from the
Maltese
tournament.
take on Scotland, Belarus and Northern
Ireland. This new generation has many qualities, with no shortage of individual talent.
“This is the best generation of players
I have come across for many years. We have
the potential to go a long way. Our strikers
are exceptional and many players are
already showing a lot of promise for their
clubs,” said Marc Van Geersom, who heads
up the management of the junior teams.
The Under-19 tournament will be
held in the Western Flanders province
between 18 and 24 May 2004. Our Red
Devils will face Serbia and Montenegro, the
Republic of Ireland and Norway. According to
Marc Van Geersom, qualification is a real
possibility: “This team has enormous potential, although we are finding goals hard
to come by. Our players have a genuine
chance of qualifying because we should not
forget that we have already beaten Italy,
Georgia and Estonia. Playing on home soil
should also be a big advantage.”
The fact that our national teams
might rub shoulders with the major nations
proves that Belgian football still has a
bright future. The results achieved by our
junior teams in the European competitions
tend to suggest that our new training policy
is bearing fruit and that we need to step up
our efforts to ensure that Belgian sports fans
can continue dreaming of future success.
François Vantomme
BELGIUM
Organisation
of European tournaments
Belgium has always tried to play
an active role in the various
activities of UEFA. It has proved this once
again by offering to host the qualifying tournaments for the European Under-17 and
Under-19 Championships.
The Belgian national teams will be
trying to qualify for the final round in both
categories. The Under-17 tournament will
be held in the Liège province from 26 March
to 1 April, when our young Red Devils will
BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
Close attention paid
to security issues
Although the winter break
between the two parts of the championship
lasted almost three months, there was no
rest for the Football Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Work was concentrated on
preparing for the remainder of the championship as well as for the semi-finals of the
BH Cup. But most attention was given to the
The mid-season break
turned out to be an extraordinarily busy time
for the national teams of Belarus. The management of the Belarus Football Federation,
together with the coaches of the national
teams at all levels, had prepared a thorough
plan of training camps and friendly matches.
The events which attracted greatest
media and public attention were the participation of the senior national team in international tournaments in Cyprus and Malta.
After their unsuccessful EURO 2004 qualifying
campaign, the senior team started its new
cycle with a tournament in Cyprus, where,
in a deciding match, they defeated EURO
2004 finalists Latvia 4-1 to take third place.
Belarusian forward Maksim Romashenko, who
plays for Trabzonspor in Turkey, was the
leading scorer of the tournament, putting the
D. AQUILINA
New cycle for
the national team
BELARUS The Under-21s won the Maltese tournament.
17
licensing of clubs in the premier league
and a few clubs in the first leagues of the
two entities.
Auditors are now busy checking the
financial criteria. The clubs concerned have
to submit their reports to the FF BH by
30 April. At the same time, the clubs are dealing with the infrastructure criteria. This will
be a difficult job for the clubs in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, considering the circumstances
in which the clubs were created. Of course,
the FF BH is trying to help them as much
as possible.
During the break, committees made
progress with their work too, particularly
those involved in the running of the competitions, such as the Competitions Commission,
the Referees Committee and the Stadium
Safety Committee.
A seminar for referees was also held
in Trebinje, match delegates had a seminar
in Mostar, the coaches attended a licence
course, and the Stadium Safety Committee
organised a seminar for club representatives
involving the police ministries of both entities
and the police departments in the cities where
the clubs come from. “We want to assure
safety and security at all matches throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
including before and after the matches.
We haven’t had any problems so far. Special
attention is being paid to the organisation
of international matches,” FF BH President
Milan Jelic told the participants.
Fuad Krvavac
CROATIA
Preparation time
Ante Pavlovic
BELGIUM
The Under-19 national team.
18
uefadirect 4.04
CYPRUS
Marios
N. Lefkaritis
presents
the trophy
to Romania’s
captain.
CFA
CROATIA
Pero Dujmovic
(left) and
Vatroslav
Mihacic,
the former
and the new
director of the
HNS academy.
same time for the EURO 2004 and European
Under-21 Championship final rounds. Our
Under-19 national team are also in the second
qualifying round of the European Under-19
Championship in Turkey and therefore also
have a chance of qualifying for that particular
final round. Such successes have to be confirmed with good performances at the respective final tournaments.
The traditional camp organised by
the HNS for talented young players took place
in Porec at the beginning of the year. In conjunction with the camp, a special programme
was also organised for youth coaches. The
Croatian Football Federation accords high priority to this activity because it is on this level
that the quality of Croatian football is built.
The Coaches Committee has also
held an elective meeting and voted Fredi
Fiorentini from Split back in as its chairman
for the next four-year term. Now that the
Football Academy of the Croatian Football
Federation is producing good results, wider
fields of activity are expected from the new
leadership of the football coaches, especially
with regard to work with youth coaches and
coaches of amateur clubs.
Vatroslav Mihacic, former professional player who played in the national
league and abroad, has replaced the very
successful director of the Football Academy
of the Croatian Football Federation, Pero
Dujmovic, who has retired.
The first and second division referees have had their 24th refereeing course in
Makarska. The course was attended by 60 referees and 74 assistant referees. All of them
showed a high level of fitness preparation and
solid theoretical knowledge. FIFA refereeing
instructor George Courtney also attended the
course and gave a very interesting lecture.
The annual General Assembly has
also taken place. The activities of the
Executive Committee and its bodies were
acknowledged as very successful. All reports
were accepted unanimously. The assembly
paid tribute to Otto Baric, head coach of the
senior national team, as well as to Martin
Novoselac, head coach of the Under-21 team.
URBSFA
The beginning of the new
season in the Croatian Football
Federation (HNS) was marked
by numerous activities in different areas.
However, the most important ones have been
the preparations for the forthcoming EURO
2004 and European Under-21 Championship
final rounds, the beginning of the national
league, and the General Assembly.
Croatia is one of only five other
European nations to have qualified at the
HNS
F. KRVAVAC
BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
Seminar
on safety
and security.
CYPRUS
Romania
win the international
tournament
Romania won the 8th
International Tournament organised
by the Cyprus Football Association from
17 to 22 February.
Eight countries participated in this
spectacular tournament offering high quality
football. Romania won the tournament for
the second time. The first time was in 2001.
Cyprus has won the tournament twice, back
in 1998 and 2000. Poland won in 1997,
Greece in 1999, the Czech Republic in 2002
and Russia last year.
In the final, Romania beat Hungary 3-0. Third place was won by Belarus,
beating Latvia 4-1. Cyprus finished in
fifth place.
The Cyprus Football Association
is now preparing to host the UEFA Congress,
which will take place in Limassol from 22
to 23 April. The president of the organising
committee, Life President of the Cyprus
Football Association and member of
the UEFA Executive Committee, Marios
N. Lefkaritis, is very optimistic and confident that the event will be a success.
The Cyprus Football Association is
also in the process of organising a Fun Football tournament in Limassol with the participation of teams in the 10-12 age range,
as well as a game with veteran players.
The UEFA Congress in Cyprus coincides with two anniversaries: UEFA’s Jubilee
and the 70th anniversary of the Cyprus
Football Association. The media in Cyprus
have begun promoting this event, which
has already attracted the interest of the
foreign press covering the 8th International
Tournament.
Kyriacos Giorgallis
CZECH REPUBLIC
UEFA Pro Licence
In cooperation with UEFA,
the FA of the Czech
Republic (FACR) prepared
and opened its fifth UEFA Pro Licence
course on 23 February. This official ceremony was attented by some honorary
guests, such as UEFA Jira Panel members
Howard Wilkinson and György Mezey, FACR
General Secretary Petr Fousek, Technical
Committee Chairman Ladislav Valasek and
representatives of the institutions that
helped organise the course – the Faculty of
Physical Culture of Palacky University in
Olomouc, and SK Sigma Olomouc.
Principal course leader is
Jiri Zalabák from the FACR Coach Education
Department. On the basis of the final
results of the entrance exams, and after
necessary approvals by the relevant FACR
authorities, 27 applicants were accepted
onto the course.
The FA in Afghanistan
The Football Association’s
representative in Afghanistan
has accepted an extension to
his contract to continue to assist the
Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) to
rebuild football in the country after 23 years
of war. Former British Army Major Michael
Moriarty was appointed in 2003 as part
of an ‘International Football Task Force’ to
work in Kabul alongside technical experts
appointed by the DFB (German FA). Their
efforts are underpinned by the AFC and
by FIFA through their Financial Assistance
Programme and Goal project, while
Moriarty’s secondment is supported by
The FA’s International Development
Programme, which funds technical, refereeing and administration assistance in
every continent. It is co-financed by the
British Foreign & Commonwealth Office
and the British Council.
FINLAND
Finnish Cup
celebrates with UEFA
At the beginning of April,
the Finnish Cup kicks off
for the 50th time. The Cup’s anniversary
competition has been named as the Football Association of Finland’s national UEFA
Jubilee event.
The very first cup competition was
played in 1955, after Juuso Walden, FAF
President from 1953 to 1963, had donated a
trophy. Valkeakosken Haka (FC Haka) won
the first competition. Since then it has won
the Cup ten times, making it the most successful team in the Cup’s history.
The new millennium has seen the
steady growth of the competition, with an
increase in the number of participating
clubs. Last season, an all-time high of
339 teams entered the competition. And to
do real justice to the 50th edition, a record
number of 386 teams will be setting out on
the road to glory on 1 April.
The Finnish Cup final will end the
domestic top-flight season when it takes
place in Helsinki on 30 October. Last year,
it was HJK Helsinki who crowned their victorious league campaign by beating AC
Allianssi in extra time.
“The Cup’s growing popularity is
due largely to enthusiasm among the
lower-level clubs. Players appreciate the
chance to play against the big names
and professionals,” says Petri Heikkinen,
the FAF’s Head of Competitions.
Sami Terävä
ICELAND
End of second
licensing cycle
At the time of writing, the
club licensing system is nearing the end of
its second cycle in Iceland. The first club
assessments were made in spring 2003, but
this time around, the whole licensing
process was brought forward by a couple of
months, with club assessments being made
in January and February this year. The UEFA
licensing administration has visited the
Icelandic FA twice, in October last year and
in February this year, to assess the progress
made with regards to the licensing set-up
and to make spot checks at clubs. The visits
were a good learning experience and will
help the Icelandic FA’s licensing administration greatly in its work in the future.
The Icelandic FA was granted limited admission to the UEFA Convention for
Coach Education in July last year, and in
January this year over 120 coaches were
granted a UEFA B coaching licence. The FA
is planning to apply for the UEFA A licence
in May this year. In the last few years,
coaches and clubs have become increasingly aware of the need for education in all
areas of coaching, and the introduction of
the licensing system has put extra pressure
on coaches to seek education.
The national team’s participation
in a three-nations cup in Manchester at the
beginning of June, along with England and
Asian champions Japan, has generated huge
interest among the Icelandic public. Ticket
demand is very high as English football
is extremely popular in Iceland. All matches
will be played at the City of Manchester
Stadium, home of Manchester City FC, the
club of Icelandic national-team goalkeeper
Árni Gautur Arason.
The FA’s winter tournament, the
League Cup, got off to an incredible
goalscoring start. The first eight matches
in the competition, all played on indoor
pitches, amassed an incredible 41 goals in
total, compared to last year’s 21 goals in
the first eight matches. The goal feast has
started early in Iceland this year.
Ómar Smárason
ISRAEL
Idan Tal scored
one of Israel’s
six goals
against
Azerbaijan.
EMPICS
ENGLAND
Despite the severity of the challenges facing the regeneration of football in
the country, The FA’s work has been able
to breathe life into the AFF by providing
structures and systems together with substantial donations of kit and equipment.
Critically, the AFF now has a Strategic
Development Plan which will form the backbone for its growth. The FA has made an
investment in Afghanistan as part of a multilateral partnership and we are pleased that
the foundations have been built. We look
forward to continuing a role in the task
force to ensure that football is really given
the chance to take shape in Afghanistan.
Jane Bateman
ICELAND
Goalkeeper
Arni Gautur Arason
in action
for Manchester City.
EMPICS
JUHA TAMMINEN
To date, 114 coaches working as
national-team coaches, or as coaches
of first-division clubs in the Czech Republic
and abroad have acquired this licence.
The current educational programme is mostly oriented towards the
use of the most up-to-date knowledge and
experience in theory and practice. Reputable lecturers from the Czech Republic as
well as from abroad are contributing to the
teaching and training.
The practical sessions in the first
part of the UEFA Pro Licence course which
ran from 23 to 27 February were led by
reputable first-division coaches (Ulicny from
SK Sigma Olomouc, Jarucek from 1.FC Brno,
former Under-21 coach Kopecky, former
FC Brno and FK Drnovice coach Vecera and
former FK Jablonec coach V. Palicka, to
name but a few). A panel discussion moderated by Ladislav Valasek also formed part
of the introductory programme. Many theoretical subjects were also on the study
programme during this week (e.g. orthopaedics, psychology and physiology). These
topics were also taught by reputable lecturers (such as Hana Válkova, member of
the Disability Football Panel, Mr Stejskal,
and national team physician Dr Krejcí).
One weekly block consists of
50 hours, split into 15 of theory and 35 of
practice. The coaching–managerial course
is divided into four phases, each consisting
of three parts. The whole course takes
two years to complete and is one of the
most extensive within the UEFA Convention.
The current course represents
another significant step in the development
of the education system. The intensity of
the course as well as the great interest of
the applicants in coach education ensures
that the FACR is among those UEFA associations where coach education is one of the
most important and strategic priorities.
Vít Pavlusek
FINLAND
HJK Helsinki
celebrate
scoring the
winning goal
against
AC Allianssi
in the
2003 cup final.
19
FSM
D. AQUILINA
FYR MACEDONIA
President Trajkovski
salutes
the national-team
players.
ISRAEL
International friendly
matches in Israel
The Israeli national team had a
very successful international
friendly match against Azerbaijan in Tel Aviv
on 18 February. Three referees from Portugal
officiated. The Azerbaijan delegation stayed
in Tel Aviv for few days, travelled around and
had a great visit. Our national team is now
looking forward to matches against Lithuania’s
senior and U21 teams on 30 March and
against Moldova on 27 April, both in Israel.
Our U17 team had the pleasure of
playing Ukraine in Israel at the end of January,
while our U19 team played Romania in
February, also in Israel, and are now looking
forward to meeting the Belarus U19 team for
a friendly match in Israel in March.
On 10 February, FIFA representative
Eva Pasquier, Goal Project Manager, came to
Israel and met representatives of the Israeli FA
as well as representatives of Ahi Nazereth FC,
whose field will be renovated with financial
assistance from the Goal Project. The meeting
took place in Nazereth, and the matter
will now be put forward for FIFA’s approval
in March.
On 16 February, the Israeli refereeing
sector was audited. On behalf of UEFA, the
audit was carried out by René Eberle, Senior
Manager, Competition Administration,
and Vitor Melo Pereira, member of the UEFA
Referees Committee.
In the course of the audit, interviews were conducted with some of the
leading people in the refereeing sector and
Israeli FA, a wide range of matters were
checked, and the importance of the independence and professionalism of the system
were stressed. The representatives were
very satisfied and the audit was a success.
Adi Rosenberg
KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan take part
in 8th International
Football Tournament
in Cyprus
From 18 to 21 February, the national team
of Kazakhstan took part in the 8th
International Football Tournament in Cyprus.
It was the Kazakhstan team’s first competition of the year. The team is now preparing
to embark on the 2006 World Cup qualifying competition, Kazakhstan’s first official
competition as a UEFA member. In Cyprus,
Kazakhstan finished sixth out of eight. Their
first match was against EURO 2004 finalists
Latvia, which they lost 3-1. They then won
their second match, against Armenia, 3-2 on
penalty kicks, after a 3-3 result at the end of
normal playing time. In their last match,
Kazakhstan lost to Cyprus 2-1.
Some new players made their
debut for the Kazakhstan national team in
this tournament: defender Dmitriy Lyapkin,
midfielders Vitaliy Abramov and Sergey
Kostyuk, and forward Roman Uzdenov.
“I knew that we’d have some
problems. February
is not good time for
football in Kazakhstan. Our footballers
are not ready yet; the
season has not begun. But
they did their best. It was a great
experience for us,” said head coach Leonid
Pakhomov.
Kazakhstan’s next match will be
against Azerbaijan in Almaty on 28 April.
Alexandr Keplin
LITHUANIA
WITTERS
History never dies
20
KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan’s
Oleg Mussin (left)
tries to win the
ball from Letton
Vitalijs Astafjevs.
uefadirect 4.04
The Lithuanian Football
Association has organised a tournament for
famous bygone footballers – K. Birieta,
A. Ziliskas, A. Binkauskas, V. Zitkus
and A. Lydeka. They used to play for
FC Zalgiris, founded in 1947 and known
as Dynamo at the time.
For many years, FC Zalgiris was
the first team in Lithuania. Many of the
club’s triumphs live on in our memories.
When some of these moments were
recalled in the opening ceremony of tournament, the crowd cheered at these
recollections.
MALTA
Great
achievements
under
the leadership
of Joseph
Mifsud.
Eight teams took part in the eightday tournament held in Kaunas, which was
won by Marijampoles FC Suduva.
This tournament attracted a lot
of spectators, and relatives of the former
great players were also present.
Vaiva Zizaite
FYR MACEDONIA
Mourning our president
All the football activities in the
Republic of Macedonia scheduled for the end of February
and the beginning of March have been overshadowed by the tragic event which struck
our country and our people when we lost
our president, Boris Trajkovski, in a plane
crash. Mr Trajkovski was a peacemaker,
humanist and real leader, as well as a great
friend of sport.
He loved football and it was always
a pleasure for him to visit the City Stadium
in Skopje to attend domestic games, to present the trophy to the cup winners, to support our clubs in the UEFA competitions,
and to be part of all the matches of our
national team.
This great man was always with the
players, supporting them on their road to
greater achievements, using each and every
opportunity to stress their importance as
ambassadors and the significance of the
game of football in representing the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all over
the world.
The Football Federation of Macedonia and the football public are grateful for
everything that he did for all of us.
Zoran Nikolovski
MALTA
Joseph Mifsud stands
for re-election
A geographically miniscule
country, whose population
of approximately 400,000 is abundantly
smaller than a medium-sized city in Europe,
cannot aspire to match the giants of world
football. This is mirrored by Malta’s record
in the international arena.
It is through its contribution to the
European and world bodies that Malta has
mostly left its imprint, especially since 1984.
Behind that has been the central figure
of Joseph Mifsud, Malta FA President and a
lawyer by profession.
Appointed as vice-president of
his country’s football association in 1982
and eventually elected president in 1992,
Dr Mifsud started serving UEFA in 1984. He
was elected as a member of the Executive
Committee ten years later and re-elected in
1996 and 2000. He is seeking another term
at the forthcoming XVIII Ordinary UEFA
Congress in April. He also served as a
member of FIFA Executive Committee from
1998 until 2000.
REPUBLIC
OF IRELAND
Second season
of summer football
After many weeks of discussion and negotiation, the way has been
cleared for the eircom league, the domestic
league in the Republic of Ireland, to start on
schedule at the end of March.
The club licensing issue was the
difficult hurdle that clubs in the Republic had
to clear before they could be assured that
the go-ahead would be given for the new
season to commence.
This is the second season of summer soccer in the Republic and it would have
been a tragedy if the senior game were
to have virtually collapsed because clubs
were not qualified or had failed to meet the
requirements laid down by UEFA in order
to receive their licences to play.
It is no secret that clubs in the
Republic of Ireland find it very difficult
to exist due to a lack of financial strength.
The demands created by running costs,
wages and general overheads make life difficult for Irish clubs.
Most clubs playing at the top level
of the game struggle for their very existence
and it is a constant battle to meet their
financial commitments each week.
Now that those demands have
increased and have been intensified by the
requirements put on them by the introduction of the club licensing system, that battle
for life will become even more difficult.
Yet it would have been regrettable
for clubs to have lost out on league football
because of their failure to secure a licence.
But the governing body, the Football Association of Ireland, came to the
rescue and the all-clear was given for the
domestic league to go ahead.
All clubs, however, have had sanctions attached to their licences and if these
are not met the FAI has the power to withdraw a club’s licence at any time.
Brendan McKenna
ROMANIA
Mircea Angelescu
and football honoured
On 8 February, in the Union
Hall of the “Cotroceni” presidential palace, the president of Romania,
Ion Iliescu, presented Mircea Angelescu with
the Order of Sporting Merit (Second Class).
It was the first time the order had
been awarded since its recent introduction
and it was conferred “in recognition of
Mircea Angelescu’s remarkable career as a
Romanian football official; as vice-president
and president of the Romanian FA, his
name has been associated with the major
successes of the Romanian football team.”
Born in 1938, Mircea Angelescu
joined the Romanian FA (FRF) as vice-president in 1967. Within a year, he was elected
president. During his first term as president,
which ran until 1976, he led the Romanian
team to the 1970 World Cup finals in Mexico
and the quarter-finals of the 1974 European
Championship. In 1974, he became a member
of the FIFA Amateur Football Committee, a
seat he held for 15 years.
In 1986, he was re-elected president
of the FRF and again led the national team to
the World Cup finals, this time in Italy in 1990.
Immediately after the revolution
in December 1989 which overturned communism in Romania, Mircea Angelescu was
appointed Minister for Youth and Sport.
In August 1990, the FRF General
Assembly made him Honorary President.
In 1992, when the professional football league
was created, Mircea Angelescu became its
president and, in this capacity, automatically became vice-president of the FRF.
He remained close to the national team and
helped them qualify for another two final
rounds: the 1994 World Cup finals in the USA
and EURO ’96 in England.
Sadly, serious illness forced him to
retire in early 1996. Now fully recovered,
Mircea Angelescu is dealing with the history
of Romanian football. He has already written
two books and others are already in the
pipeline.
Dan Cristea
famous, who are out of the limelight, but
whose contribution is none the less essential to the success of an association,
also celebrate anniversaries. One such celebration has just been celebrated in the FA
of Serbia and Montenegro on 1 March,
when the national team’s kit man Stanko
Nikolic, better known by his nickname, Lala,
celebrated 30 years of non-stop service
with the association. Nikolic (born in 1946)
took care of the team’s kit for the first
time back in 1974 for Yugoslavia’s match
against the USSR.
During the past three decades,
Nikolic has witnessed many important
matches, taken part in world and European
championships, Olympic Games, official
and friendly matches, stood by many
famous coaches and true aces of Serbian
and Montenegrin, formerly Yugoslav football. He has always performed his duties in
the most professional manner, with a great
love for the game of football and understanding of the players, who have come
to recognise and appreciate Lala’s work,
finding in him not only a sports associate,
but also a true friend with whom they have
remained close even after finishing their
careers. Lala is also a real chronicler of all
events relating to the national team, always
ready to seriously talk about football, but
also always prepared to be funny and use
his special charm to recount various football
stories and anecdotes. There are many
who think that lot of these stories could
make an interesting book.
SERBIA AND
MONTENEGRO
Kit man celebrates
30 years of service
When a jubilee celebration is
mentioned or a long sporting career celebrated, people always think of famous players, coaches, presidents, general secretaries,
technical directors, etc. Those who are not so
FS SCG
Alex Vella
EMPICS
SPORTSFILE
During these years of international
office, his honesty and eagerness to serve
the interests of UEFA and FIFA have stood
out like a shining beacon. Other influential
posts on several UEFA committees have
also earned Dr Mifsud high esteem in UEFA
and FIFA circles.
In Malta, the MFA president commands respect for his dedication to enhancing
the game at all levels, not least from the
grassroots. In terms of infrastructure, Malta
can now boast of a modern national complex
with facilities for training camps, accommodation, and high-level meetings, all within the
precincts of Ta’ Qali. Most of these facilities
have been built and upgraded during
Dr Mifsud’s tenure of office as president.
Certainly, the man’s qualities as a
hard-working official are widely acknowledged. The Malta FA therefore had no hesitation in presenting his card as a candidate for
the next UEFA Congress when they submitted his nomination for re-election as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee.
ROMANIA
Romania’s
Constantin Galca
in EURO ’96,
shadowed by
Bulgaria’s
Luboslav Penev.
REPUBLIC
OF IRELAND
Irish club
representatives
launching
the first summer
season in 2003.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Stanko Nikolic on national-team duty.
21
TFF
SFZ
Stanko “Lala” Nikolic is definitely
much more than an ordinary football kit man.
Everybody in our association is certain that
Lala will keep on working for our national
team for many years to come and be part of
the team that has great ambitions to return to
the top flight of European football in the not
too distant future.
Nebojsa Ivkovic
SLOVAKIA
Training camp
and courses
The Slovak national team, led
by new coach Dusan Galis,
used the February international date for
a training camp at the national training centre
in Senec, which provided very good conditions for training and rehabilitation.
The camp programme was intense: training
sessions, two sample matches, a lecture by
Dr Pavol Malovic regarding healthy nutrition,
hydration, and doping. Coach Dusan Galis
invited along 29 players – candidates from
among whom a final squad of 18 will be chosen for friendly and qualifying matches. There
were 19 players from foreign leagues, among
them Stano Varga from Celtic, Vratislav
Gresko from Blackburn Rovers and Szilárd
Németh from Middlesborough. The three-day
camp fulfilled its aim according to Galis, and
laid a good base for building a successful
national team.
“A positive sign for me is the good
team spirit and the fact that the young
players who successfully represented us at
the U20 World Championship in the United
Arab Emirates fit well into the team. I personally feel that it is a generation which has
the potential to satisfy the demands of
Slovak football fans,” Galis said after the
camp. The next event for the Slovak national
team will be an international against Austria
in Bratislava on 31 March.
UKRAINE
Grigoriy Surkis (left).
Meanwhile, within the association,
a refresher course for coaches is under way.
This first such course, which started in
January, is being followed by holders of the
Slovak A Licence who want to acquire the
UEFA Pro Licence. Among those participating
are national-team coach Dusan Galis, U21
coach Ladislav Jurkemik, Panionios Athens
coach Jozef Bubenko and Groclin Grodzisks
coach Dusan Radolsky. Some youth coaches
are also taking part. Jozef Venglos, Chairman
of the UEFA Technical Committee, was
present at the opening of the course, which
finishes in June.
Karolína Ducká-Lamacová
SLOVENIA
Final phase
of the Under-10 competition
On 23 February, the final phase of the
2002/03 winter Under-10 competition called
“I love playing football” took place in Sencur
near Kranj. The final tournament, involving
the best four teams, from Tisina, Maribor,
Kranj and Ljubljana, ran smoothly and in a
spirit of fair play, although the young players
did not lack competitiveness. The winners’
trophy went to the young players of NK
Triglav Kranj and was presented to them by
the head coach of the Slovenian national
team, Bojan Prasnikar. The competition was
being played for the third time this season
and involved 4,500 children playing for
145 different football clubs and elementary
schools. On the basis of what we saw during
the many tournaments organised throughout
Slovenia, it is clear that all those involved
deserved the winners’ trophy, the players as
well as their coaches, officials and the numerous organisers and referees who helped
assure the high standard of the competition.
Now we are looking forward to the
new youth competition season, bearing in
mind that the competition is intended in the
first place to let children have fun and then
to meet new friends and gain the necessary
experience for the future.
Irena Ilesic Cujovic
TURKEY
UEFA Champions League
final in Istanbul
FFU
The Turkish Football Association and the city of Istanbul
are extremely honoured to have been
chosen to stage the UEFA Champions League
final in 2005.
The Atatürk Olympic Stadium,
where the final will take place, is a brand-new
stadium with a huge capacity of 80,000
seats. It has just been added to UEFA’s list of
22
uefadirect 4.04
SLOVENIA
Brane Oblak,
new
Under-21
coach.
NZS
TURKEY
The Atatürk
Olympic
Stadium.
SLOVAKIA
The national
team are
getting ready
for the
2006 World
Cup qualifying
competition.
five-star stadiums. During a visit by a UEFA
delegation regarding our bid, the governor
of Istanbul strongly expressed his full
support of the event, as did the mayor of
the city. Very much aware of the magnitude
and importance of the event, they will use
all their power to prepare the city for a
memorable festival of football.
The Sultan Ahmet area, which is
within walking distance of Saint Sophia, the
Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace museum
and the famous closed bazaar, is being
envisaged as the fan festival area. We believe
that this festival will be a milestone for
UEFA Champions League finals to come.
Furthermore, at a recent meeting
between Haluk Ulusoy, President of the
Turkish FA, and Mehmet Ali Sahin, Deputy
Prime Minister, who is also in charge of
sport, the programme and details of the
event were discussed. Mr Sahin has also
pledged the full support of all the government bodies concerned.
An office large enough to accommodate the LOC (Local Organising Committee), UEFA and its commercial partner,
TEAM Marketing, is being set up and will be
operational by mid-March 2004.
Apart from the above, the Turkish
FA is also very proud to be chosen to host
the 2005 UEFA/CAF Meridian Cup. The
association plans to stage this tournament
in the Aegean city of Izmir and its beautiful surroundings.
Aisha Zumrut
UKRAINE
FFU help for youth
custody centres
In February, the Football
Federation of Ukraine
(FFU) and the State
Punishment Enforcement Department
signed an agreement of cooperation
whereby youth custody centres have been
supplied with 260 balls with pumps and
literature for football lessons. In the near
future, the FFU will provide the centres
with modern football grounds with artificial
turf, so that activities can go on year-round.
The regional football federations are also
involved, offering practical assistance
for the organisation and running of
matches between teams from the youth
custody centres and the children’s/youth
football league.
The FFU will assist the State
Department to provide the conditions for
football lessons and to organise football
events for young offenders. Each youth custody centre will have between six and ten
teams. “Our aim is to involve youngsters
in youth custody centres in regular football lessons. We hope this initiative will
be as successful as our scheme to bring
football to village schools and orphanages,” says FFU President Grygoriy Surkis.
Valeriy Nykonenko
Communications
Birthdays – Calendar
Birthdays
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Assistance Programmes Committee Chairman
Jan Peeters (Belgium) celebrates his 70th birthday
on 2 April. Alfred Sengle (Germany), member
of the Security Officers Panel, follows suit on
27 April. Prof. Jan Ekstrand, Vice-Chairman of the
Medical Committee, will be 60 on 5 April. He will
be joined at this milestone by Gisela Gattringer
(Germany), member of the Women’s and Girls’
Football Panel, on 7 April. Henk van de Wetering
(Netherlands) member of the Jira Project Panel,
reaches the half-century mark on 27 April, followed the day after by Zdzislaw Krecina (Poland),
member of the Security Officers Panel. UEFA also
wishes many happy returns to:
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Carlo de Gaudio (Italy, 1.4)
Kaj Østergaard (Denmark, 3.4)
Markus Schaper (Liechtenstein, 3.4)
William Attley (Republic of Ireland, 5.4)
Arie van Eijden (Netherlands, 5.4)
Régis Pukan (France, 5.4)
Lennart Wangel (Finland, 5.4)
Damir Matovinovic (Croatia, 6.4)
Isak Mikladal (Faroe Islands, 7.4)
Jacques Devismes (France, 8.4)
James Fleeting (Scotland, 8.4)
Zoran Petrovic (Serbia and Montenegro, 10.4)
Mart Tarmak (Estonia, 10.4)
Vlastibor Minarovjech jr (Slovakia, 10.4)
Umberto Gandini (Italy, 11.4)
Eduard Dervishi (Spain, 11.4)
Chingiz Ismaylov (Azerbaijan, 12.4)
Rodger Gifford (Wales, 12.4)
José Romão (Portugal, 13.4)
Jean-Paul Houben (Belgium, 14.4)
Georgios Bikas (Greece, 15.4)
Dusan Fitzel (Czech Republic, 15.4)
Pierre Schmit (Luxembourg, 16.4)
Béla Brünyi (Hungary, 17.4)
Peter Buckley (Republic of Ireland, 17.4)
Oguz Sarvan (Turkey, 18.4)
Jean Appietto (France, 20.4)
Sekip Mosturoglu (Turkey, 20.4)
Paolo Bergamo (Italy, 21.4)
Vitor M. Melo Pereira (Portugal, 21.4)
Alexandru Burlac (Moldova, 21.4)
Patrick Fenech (Malta, 22.4)
Jan Damgaard (Denmark, 22.4)
Morgan Norman (Sweden, 22.4)
José Ignacio Saez Ruiz (Spain, 23.4)
Martin Bodenham (England, 23.4)
Roland Tis (Belgium, 23.4)
Prof. Mehmet Binnet (Turkey, 23.4)
●
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Dimiter Shoilev (Bulgaria, 24.4)
Jan Carlsen (Denmark, 27.4)
Conal Hooper (Republic of Ireland, 28.4)
Ingi Jonsson (Iceland, 29.4)
Moshe Avivi (Israel, 30.4)
Upcoming events
MEETINGS
2.4.2004, Blois (France)
Draw for the preliminary and qualifying
rounds of the 2004/05 UEFA Regions’ Cup
Draw for the 2004/05 European
Women’s Under-19 Championship
Draw for the final round of the 2003/04
European Under-17 Championship
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New publications
YOUTH FOOTBALL
DEVELOPMENT IN PRACTICE
Youth football training is one
of the main concerns of
national associations, and the
Malta FA is no exception.
Compiled by Stephen Grima, a coach
with the Malta FA, under the guidance of
national coach Horst Heese, this guide
is intended especially for youth coaches.
Richly illustrated with sketches, it contains exercises for young players ranging
from the Under-10s to the Under-18s.
Youth Football Development in Practice
can be ordered from the Malta FA,
280 St Paul’s Street, Valletta.
IFC ANNUAL REPORT 2003
26-29.4.2004, Espinho/Porto
EURO preparatory referees’ course
The Independent Football Commission
(IFC) is responsible for studying the selfregulating structures of football in
England and for suggesting improvements to its governing bodies. In its
annual report for 2003, the IFC makes
37 recommendations in areas such as
finance, anti-racism and facilities for disabled supporters. These recommendations are intended for The Football
Association in England as well as the
Football League abd Premier League, but
could also be relevant in other countries.
(IFC, tel. +44-1642 342750 /
fax +44-1642 3427519)
27.4.2004, Nyon
Professional Football Committee
Match agents
21-22.4.2004, Limassol
Executive Committee
22-23.4.2004, Limassol
XXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress
23.4.2004, Limassol
Executive Committee
COMPETITIONS
6-7.4.2004
UEFA Champions League: quarter-finals
(return legs)
8.4.2004
UEFA Cup: quarter-finals (first legs)
14.4.2004
UEFA Cup: quarter-finals (return legs)
20-21.4.2004
UEFA Champions League: semi-finals
(first legs)
22.4.2004
UEFA Cup: semi-finals (first legs)
The Licensed Match Agents Panel has
granted a licence to:
Charles Mambo
Football Agent International
2 Peterscroft
100 Hay Lane, Kingsbury
GB - London NW9 0LF
Tel/fax +44 20 8205 3348
Portable +44 7973 121107
The Panel has also extended the licences
of each of the following agents for eight
years:
● Cornelis Guliker (Netherlands)
● Michael D’Arcy (England)
● Otmar Sommer (Austria)
● Rüdiger Schmitz (Germany)
we care about football
Editor André Vieli
Official publication of the
Produced by Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland
Union des associations
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Printed by Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson
Communications and Public Affairs Division
Editorial deadline: 12 March 2004
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or extracts of any information
published in uefadirect
is authorised, provided the
source is indicated.
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