UEFA"Direct #111 (09.2011)
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No.111 – 09/2011 UEFA Best Player in Europe 2 010/11 UEFADirect111E.indd 1 16.09.11 11:34 2 Sur In this issue UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 4 le The draw for the group stage of the UEFA Sportsfi Champions League was the occasion to present Lionel Messi with the new UEFA Best Player in Europe Award for his performances last season. FC Barcelona lift UEFA Super Cup 7 Another trophy for the Catalan club, who beat FC Porto in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco. le Sportsfi le UEFA Europa League group stage draw results 8 Sportsfi The group stage draw in Monaco split 48 participating teams into 12 groups for the third season of the UEFA Europa League. Nearly €70 million for youth development 10 Part of the UEFA Champions League revenue is shared among the top division clubs WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL which did not participate in the competition, le for them to invest in youth development. Offi cial publication of the Sportsfi Union des associations européennes de football Chief editor : Elite Club Coaches Forum in Nyon 11 UEFA André Vieli Produced by : The annual get-together for elite club coaches Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland once again resulted in a valuable exchange Printing : of opinions and experiences. Artgraphic Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson Editorial deadline : 14 September 2011 News from member associations 17 The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the offi cial views of UEFA. The reproduction of articles published in UEFA·direct is authorised, provided the source is indicated. Supplements UEFA Route de Genève 46 The UEFA Champions League Technical Report CH-1260 Nyon 2010/11 analyses European club football’s fl agship Switzerland competition. Tel. +41 848 00 27 27 Fax +41 848 01 27 27 The European Under-21 and Under-19 Champion ship www.UEFA.com technical reports provide technical analyses [email protected] of these two competitions’ fi nal rounds, played in Denmark and Romania respectively. Cover Photo: AFP UEFADirect111E.indd 2 16.09.11 10:24 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES SurtitreEditorial 3 Home-grown inspiration UEFA s reported in the last UEFA·direct, Spain have added Overall, and contrary to popular wisdom, the highest Ato their long list of honours by winning this year’s ranking clubs are those that use the greatest proportion European U19 and U21 championships and success- of club-trained players, showing that player development fully defending their women’s U17 crown. and performance are far from incompatible. This can only be a good thing and is all the more reason for us to These results are proof, if any were needed, of the step up our efforts to safeguard the entire quality chain true strength of the Spanish player development system, that leads from training centres to top competition. which is bearing the fruit of years of concerted efforts. They also echo a UEFA policy that I hold particularly We can but hope, too, that this example encourages dear, namely the local training of players. other clubs to follow the same path, helping European football to retain its identity and extend its strong roots so According to the latest report on the European foot- that it can continue to play its socio-educational role to ball labour market, published by the Football Observa- the full. tory at the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), which looks at the continent’s fi ve big leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), Spanish clubs fi eld Gianni Infantino the greatest percentage of club-trained players, at an UEFA General Secretary average of almost one in four. Extending this analysis to all the players on their books, almost 30% are graduates of the clubs’ own academies (the second highest per- centage among the big fi ve, behind France). It is therefore no surprise to see that Spain is the coun- try best represented in this season’s UEFA Champions League, with 81 Spanish players competing, just ahead of France’s 78. UEFA •direct | 09.11 UEFADirect111E.indd 3 20.09.11 13:31 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 4 UEFA Champions League 2011-12 Award for Lionel Messi The draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League, held in the Salle des Princes at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on the evening of 25 August, was followed by another ceremony, at which the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award for last season was presented. his trophy, born out of an initiative by the UEFA presi- member associations, had already shortlisted three can- Tdent, Michel Platini, replaces the awards presented didates – Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi (both of FC Bar- by UEFA in previous years, from which it differs in terms celona) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF) – for a of both its character – as a single award – and the way second round of voting, which was held live in Monaco its winner is chosen. Whereas in recent years the panel in the form of an electronic vote. The trophy, a silver bust was composedcomposed ofof ththee coaccoacheshes ooff ththee cclubslubs ththatat hhadad engravede with the UEFA logo, was presented to Lionel qualifiqualifi ed forfor the UEFA ChamChampionspions League round ooff 16, Messi,M who won considerably more votes than his team- thisthis yearyear the season’s best playerplayer inin matem and Real Madrid’s Ronaldo. EuropeEurope was selected byby sportssports journalistsjournalists in the tradition of thethe UnitedU against fraud oldold EuropeanEuropean Footballer of thethe Although the list of group stage participants in the YearYear award. In order to high-high- 2011/122 UEFA Champions League was completed on lightlight the connection, a numbernumber thet two evenings prior to the draw, the UEFA Emergency ofof former winners of the origi-origi- Panel,P composed of the UEFA president and four mem- nalnal trophytrophy [Sir BobbyBobby bersb of the Executive Committee, had to make a change Charlton (1966),(1966), LuisLuis tot the list of automatic qualifi ers, replacing Turkish cham- FigoFigo (2000), Ruud Gul-Gul- pionsp Fenerbahçe SK with runners-up Trabzonspor AS. litlit (1987)(1987) and LotharLothar TheT Turkish Football Association had withdrawn Fener- MatthäusMatthäus (1990)](1990)] werewere bahçeb SK from its list of representatives in the UEFA com- inin attendance, lending petitionsp because the club had been implicated in a supportsupport to the UEFAUEFA match-fim xing case. “A move that shows that we are all generalgeneral secretary,secretary, unitedu in the fi ght against fraud,” in the words of the Gianni Infantino,Infantino, UEFAU general secretary, Gianni Infantino, who pointed andand thethe UEUEFAFA outo that the new season also marked the start of the ap- competitionscompetitions di-di- plicationp of UEFA’s fi nancial fair play criteria. rector, GiorgioGiorgigiio Marchetti, dur-durdduurr- EighteenE associations represented ing the draw.drawdrarawraaw.awaw.w. As in the past two seasons, 18 national associations This neweww trotrttrophytroprophroproophyophphyhyy isis area represented in the UEFA Champions League. Eng- awardeddeddededd inin partner-partnerparpartnpartppaartnartneartnert - landl and Spain have the maximum 4 clubs, Germany, shipipp withwitwwiithithh EuropeanEuEurE r FranceF and Italy have 3 each, Portugal and Russia have SportsSpoSpportsporportortsortstss MMediaMedMeed (ESM).(ESM). 2 representatives and 11 other national associations TheThThee 535 journalists onon eache have 1 participating club. Since all these associa- thetht panel, each repre-repre- tionst have previously entered clubs in the Champions sentingsenting one ofof UEFA’s The award The UEFA Best Player in Europe Award is made of silver, stands on a Corian base and weighs 8kg. De- signed by the Portuguese agency Brandia Central Lionel Messi was the jury’s and made by John Nix in England, it takes the form Empics Sport clear favourite of a player’s shirt engraved with the UEFA logo. As players nowadays sport their names on the back of their shirts, it was only logical to engrave the winner’s name on the back of the award. Clearly this would not have been possible in the short interval between the jury voting and the UEFA president pre- senting the award, so a sticker was used for the cere- mony and the engraver set to work afterwards. e l le ortsfi ortsfi p Sportsfi UEFADirect111E.indd 4 16.09.11 10:24 5 A full house in the Salle des Princes at the Grimaldi Forum ahead of the draw le Sportsfi A cheque for street football Between the draw and the Best Player in Europe Award, the traditional UEFA charity cheque was presented to the streetfootballworld network, which has been a UEFA partner 2012 calendar for several years, working, among other things, on the ● Round of 16: 14/15 and 21/22 February (fi rst legs); EUROSCHOOLS project attached to the European Football 6/7 and 13/14 March (return legs) Championship fi nal round. The network, which unites more ● Quarter-fi nals: 27/28 March (fi rst legs); 3/4 April (return legs) ● Semi-fi nals: 17/18 April (fi rst legs) and 24/25 April (return legs) ● Final: 19 May in Munich ● Round of 16 draw: 16 December 2011 ● Quarter- and semi-fi nal draws: 16 March League, the number of associations represented since the group stage was expanded to 32 clubs in 1999 remains 31. Eight associations have always had at least le one participant: Spain (49 places in total, shared be- tween 11 clubs), England (48/8), Italy (46/8), Ger- Sportsfi many (39/9), France (36/9), the Netherlands (23/7), Greece (21/3) and Turkey (17/5). At the other end of the scale, this is only the third time Michel Platini presents the charity cheque to Jürgen Griesbeck, managing Cyprus has been represented (by two clubs in total), director of streetfootballworld while FC BATE Borisov is the only club from Belarus to than 80 organisations from over 50 countries around the have qualifi ed (twice).