No 57 – January 2007 1.0 7 in Istanbul Medical symposium Security inthe spotlight Meridian project agenda Training topofthe in Düsseldorf 31st UEFA Congress in Istanbul Medical symposium Security inthe spotlight Meridian project agenda Training topofthe in Düsseldorf 31st UEFA Congress Including 12 08 05 03 12 08 05 03 COVER IN THIS ISSUE New law in France protects referees 06 Newcastle United (Steven Taylor, Stadium and security seminar 08 No. 27, in front of Eintracht Seminar on EU matters 10 Frankfurt’s Ioannis Amanatidis) Elections at the Congress steamed ahead in Group H in in Düsseldorf 03 Medical symposium in Istanbul 12 the UEFA Cup and are through Meridian project focuses Last meeting of the year for the Executive Committee 13 to the round of 32. on youth training 05 News from member associations 16 PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

DynamicEditorial Congresses

Since 2003, the UEFA Congress has taken place annually and now it has been moved to the start of the year from the spring, among other reasons, to synchronise it more closely with the football season as well as to respond to financial needs. But that is not all. The general meeting of member associations is much more than a body that is asked to approve the accounts. At the 2005 Congress in Tallinn, for example, it unanimously adopted the “Vision Europe” strategy and, in doing so, defined the future direction of European football. This year, the Congress will be characterised by elections, which are particularly important because they also concern the UEFA presidency. However, it will also continue with business that has been on previous agendas, such as amendments to the UEFA statutes, revisions which will allow the principles of “Vision Europe” to be applied. One of the main advantages of the congress is also that it brings together all the leaders of all the member associations and gives them an opportunity to forge closer links. Ultimately, though, it has to be more than that. Like all football activities, it has to keep up with our hectically moving times. Since the implementation of the conclusions of the FORCE project at the turn of the century, decision-making has already become faster and less rigid. In the current climate, with all the risks that continue to threaten our game, it is vital for the congress to be a vibrant forum where ideas are exchanged and give rise to new initiatives. A dynamic congress also does wonders for the image of an organisation like ours. I hope the congress in Düsseldorf will meet all of these expectations.

Lars-Christer Olsson Chief Executive

we care about football UEFA-pjwoods.ch

02 uefadirect 1.07 31st UEFA Congress in Düsseldorf ThirteenThirteen candidatescandidates forfor thethe ExecutiveExecutive CommitteeCommittee

Düsseldorf, on the banks of the Rhine. KEYSTONE

AFTER HOSTING LAST SUMMER’S WORLD CUP FINALS, GERMANY IS ALREADY ■ Senes Erzik (Turkey), member since PREPARING TO HOST ANOTHER IMPORTANT FOOTBALL EVENT. 1990 and vice-president since 1994; ■ Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), This time, however, the action The election of the next member since 1992 and vice-presi- will not be taking place on the field but UEFA president, for which there are dent since 2000; in a conference centre, at the Düssel- two candidates – Swede Lennart ■ Eggert Magnusson (Iceland), dorf congress centre to be precise, Johansson, who has occupied the elected in 2002; where delegates from UEFA’s member presidential seat since 1990, and ■ Joseph Mifsud (Malta), elected associations will be gathering on 25 Frenchman , a member in1994; and 26 January, along with guests from of the UEFA Executive Committee ■ Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland), FIFA and the other confederations, for since 2002 – will be the most antici- in office since 1996. the 31st UEFA Congress. pated moment of the congress. The committee’s two The German FA (DFB) is no As a result of elections co-opted members are also candi- stranger to hosting UEFA events, but being moved from even-numbered dates: this will be only the second time that it to odd-numbered years, other ballots ■ Gilberto Madail (Portugal), has hosted a UEFA congress, the first are also on the agenda, firstly for six being in Munich ahead of the final of seats of the UEFA Executive Commit- ■ Grigoriy Surkis (Ukraine). the European Championship in 1988. tee. Except for Michel Platini, all The other contenders are Prior to the reunification of Germany, those whose terms are coming to the following top national associa- East Germany also hosted a UEFA con- an end are standing for re-election. tion officials: gress in Dresden in 1982. They are: ■ Rakhat Aliyev (Kazakhstan),

03 Senes Erzik Angel Maria Eggert Magnusson Joseph Mifsud Giangiorgio Spiess (Turkey) Villar Llona (Iceland) (Malta) (Switzerland) (Spain)

■ Tomas Géa (Andorra), once the possibility of increasing the ■ Frantisek Laurinec (Slovakia), number of European Championship finalists from 16 to 24. ■ Vlatko Markovic (Croatia), At the 2002 Congress, ■ Mircea Sandu (Romania), Kazakhstan was admitted as UEFA’s ■ Liutauras Varanavicius 52nd member. That number could (Lithuania). increase again, since, at its meeting Gilberto Madail (Portugal) The seats of UEFA represen- in Ljubljana in October, the Executive tatives on the FIFA Executive Commit- Committee accepted the FA of Mon- tee are also expiring. The first depends tenegro as a provisional member and directly on the UEFA presidential did likewise for the FA of Gibraltar Grigoriy Surkis elections, since, in accordance with the at its meeting in December, in accor- (Ukraine) UEFA statutes, the UEFA president is dance with a decision of the Court of an ex-officio FIFA vice-president. For Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In Düssel- the FIFA vice-president’s seat currently dorf, the UEFA Congress will have occupied by Angel Maria Villar Llona, to decide whether to admit these two president of the Spanish FA, the pres- associations as full members. ent incumbent is the only candidate. Rakhat Aliyev (Kazakhstan) The term of Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (Germany) as a member of the FIFA Election Executive Committee is also expiring, procedure and he is not standing for re-election. For the UEFA Executive Tomas Géa (Andorra) The two candidates for this seat are Committee, no distinction is Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) and made between vice-presidents Angel Maria Villar Llona. and members. The congress The term in office of David elects six members and it is then up to the Executive Committee Will (Scotland) is also coming to an to appoint its vice-presidents end. However, since this vice-presi- at its constituent meeting imme- dent’s seat constitutionally belongs to Frantisek Laurinec diately after the congress. (Slovakia) the four British associations, it is up The FIFA Executive Commit- to them to elect his successor. tee elections, on the other hand, are split into two parts: first, Applicant member associations the election of a vice-president, Vlatko Markovic then the election of a member – Apart from the elections (Croatia) unless, of course, no election and ordinary business such as various is required because there are the reports and financial accounts, the same number of candidates as congress will also be asked to approve there are seats to fill. amendments to the UEFA statutes. In all cases, including the These include a definition of fair play, presidential elections, an abso- lute majority is required (half Mircea Sandu a more detailed list of UEFA’s objec- (Romania) tives and of the means for achieving of the votes plus one, counting only valid ballot papers). If a them, a more precise description of second ballot is required, a sim- the rights and duties of member asso- ply majority suffices. A third ciations, as well as clauses regarding ballot takes place if necessary, Liutauras the UEFA club licensing system and then, in the event of a tie, the Varanavicius (Lithuania) the participation of clubs in the UEFA candidates are separated by the competitions. drawing of lots. Each national In addition, the Scottish FA association has one vote, except for provisional members, which is tabling a proposal asking the UEFA are not allowed to vote. Executive Committee to consider at

04 uefadirect 1.07 First course The course in Brazzaville, methodology in the Republic comprised of the Congo, practice and in October. observation.

and CAF and reminded about the im- portance of their task. The second stage therefore Meridian consists of the implementation of the programme. It is being organised in the form of three-day regional courses for representatives of neigh- bouring national associations. The Project instructors who attended the courses Promoting youth in Europe are responsible for teach- ing candidates selected by their training in Africa national associations, under the super- vision of CAF and UEFA, on subjects IN THE RUN-UP TO ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY, WHICH IT WILL CELEBRATE specific to African football. The IN JANUARY 2007, THE MERIDIAN PROJECT HAS SHIFTED ITS FOCUS ONTO THE courses involve theoretical and prac- TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG FOOTBALLERS. tical work as well as group discus- sions. The first course was held in The strategy that UEFA and referees’ course in Nyon, annual elite Congo at the end of October; anoth- the African Football Confederation referees’ course in Barcelona, referee er took place in Tanzania in Decem- (CAF) have decided to adopt is not instructor courses in and ber and three more are planned for to send European coaches to Africa St Petersburg. A total of 14 African 2007. The subjects covered are the to work with young Africans, but to representatives attended these courses. same for each course and every one make extensive efforts to ensure that During the same period, of the 53 CAF member associations African football itself has instructors African coaches (six per event) were will attend a course. capable of passing on knowledge to invited to attend the symposium As links in a continuous chain the CAF member associations which for coaching directors in Dublin, the of learning and teaching, the partici- form the roots of African football. women’s football conference in Oslo, pants in these courses will then be In the first stage of this the youth football conference in expected to pass on their knowledge process, CAF selected a number of Limassol, the futsal conference in within their respective national associ- refereeing and coaching experts who Madrid, the grassroots football course ations. This will form the third, final travelled to Europe to attend UEFA in Nyon and the course for coach and most important phase of the pro- courses aimed at specialists from the educators in Coverciano. gramme, since it will demonstrate European national associations. In an intermediate phase how successful the new focus of the In the refereeing sector, for designed to prepare the ground for Meridian programme has been and example, an African delegation partici- the second stage, African technicians how it is contributing to the develop- pated in each of the following courses and referees were invited to a meet- ment of youth coaching. An evalua- in the 2005/06 period: women referees’ ing in Tunis from 28 July to 1 August, tion of the results will then provide course in Nyon, referee instructor where they were informed about some clues as to how the programme courses in Paris and Amsterdam, futsal the programme drawn up by UEFA should continue in the future.

The African delegation at the grassroots

conference in Nyon. PHOTOS: UEFA

05 The proposal of senator Jean-François Humbert was approved by the parliament. FLASH PRESS AFP AFP

heavily as before under accelerated legal procedures. They run the risk of being fined up to EUR 30,000 and New legislation imprisoned for two years. In murder cases, they will be sentenced to life imprisonment. The new law represents in France tremendous national recognition of Better protection the work and value of referees. Jean- Louis Piette, president of the Higher for referees Refereeing Council, had been calling for such a law for a decade. He DISREGARD FOR AUTHORITY IS AN had lobbied and worked tirelessly APPALLING SOCIAL PHENOMENON THAT to promote the idea. Things IS ALSO EVIDENT ON THE SPORTS began to move more quickly in FIELD, WHERE IT CAN SOMETIMES RESULT June, when a bill was tabled by IN AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE. senator Jean-François Humbert. Having been approved by the sen- ate at the start of the summer and by parliament in October, the bill will be- come law on 1 January. As football’s representative in discussions with the sports minister, Jean-Louis Piette wel- Players are not the only comed the efforts of French politi- ones to blame. Some parents, blinded by cians: “The minister and his colleagues their own ambition, have no hesitation are acutely aware of the problem. It in telling their child to “Break his leg!” was a real obstacle course for all of and abuse the referee if he awards a deci- them, since the project involved sever- sion against their child. Sometimes man- al different ministries. The prime min- agers and coaches also join in. Insults and ister had to be called in on several unpleasant remarks are too often hurled occasions. The minister even acceler- at referees in all sporting disciplines. ated the process so that the law could While elite referees are protected, their be adopted before the start of the younger colleagues who operate at youth presidential election campaign.” or amateur level are particularly vulnera- The new law applies to ble to physical violence and intimidation. referees in all sports and at all levels, They do not necessarily have barriers including the 28,000 registered foot- or stewards to protect them. Sometimes ball referees. Over the last five years, they do not even have any assistants and around 20,000 of France’s 153,000 are all on their own, scapegoats of a referees have lost heart and given up. society that is falling apart, driven only Although they are still signing up at

FLASH PRESS by their love of sport. 17 or 18, many have had enough by the time they reach 30. This exodus Public servants is leaving a gap in the age pyramid. Faced with a mass exodus of Jean-Louis Piette explains: “If some- referees, France has adopted legislation one calls you a fool in the street, you under which referees in all sports are given have virtually no chance of having a the status of public servants, alongside complaint upheld in the courts. From firemen, policemen and customs officers. now on, it will be different for referees. People who attack The law has a deterrent effect. It’s a referees in bit like people’s fear of police officers. France can If you fear someone, you respect now be them. Violence is not only a problem punished in the suburbs, where it is relatively twice as well contained. It is even spreading to

06 uefadirect 1.07 It is not easy to identify those responsible for throwing smoke bombs onto the pitch.

and youth football will therefore not be taxed, while elite referees will not pay tax on this basic amount. They will all be able to deduct their expenses. Another important factor is that this income is considered as non-commer- cial earnings. It is an incentive, espe- cially as it doesn’t have to be declared. Although referees have self-employed status, the federations will still pay social security contributions if they earn more than EUR 4,500 per year. How- ever, there is no employment contract. Referees are not employees of the federation, which is a good thing for

EMPICS both parties. Referees remain inde- pendent and the federations don’t rural areas. It can be seen in referees’ and fiscal status is also a good thing have to make redundancy payments relationships with players and man- in the current era of scandals. Referees when referees reach the age limit, agers. Some throw stones at the ref- used to be a weak link. Now, they will which is 45 for football.” eree’s car! Being part of a crowd also be less tempted.” Finally, all referees can com- means that troublemakers can, to a bine their job with their passion. Only degree, remain anonymous. It is hard Tax advantages state employees were slightly worried, to find a person who threw a fire- The union of elite football ref- since this combination is limited in cracker from the middle of a crowd… erees and the top two French leagues their case, but a ministerial declaration This law will make it possible to track (Ligues 1 and 2) have drawn up a new has been passed, freeing them from these people down because their of- pay scale. Referees for matches in the any penalties. fences are now considered as serious top two divisions will receive a monthly France has therefore sent as attacks on a police officer. The salary of EUR 1,420 and a bonus of out a strong signal in favour of those French Football Federation will also be EUR 3,020 per match. The law gives without whom sport would be impos- able to be more authoritarian: too of- them a tax allowance of EUR 4,500 per sible. Will others follow suit? ten, when sporting justice has been year. “Referees in the lower divisions Pascale Pierard severe, such as where youth coaches who are supposed to set a good ex- ample are concerned, the civil courts have been too lenient. From now on, Every footballer we will be singing from the same should be obliged to respect hymn sheet.” the referee. The law also gives referees the same fiscal status as self-em- ployed workers. “There is no relation- ship of subordination between the referee and the federation, although clearly referees must respect the laws of the game and the rules laid down by the federation. Referees are truly protected. They can therefore be even more impartial and independent on the pitch. You see, they are a very easy target. Managers can exert pres- sure by criticising them. For example, people often say that forwards should be protected. If you listen too hard, you might forget that football is a

contact sport. This special financial FLASH PRESS

07 Bryan Drew provides some explanations. UEFA-pjwoods.ch Stadia and Security

EducationFirst workshopProgramme in Nyon

AT THE END OF NOVEMBER, THE HOUSE OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL IN NYON PLAYED HOST TO THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF FIVE THREE-DAY WORKSHOPS UNDER THE BANNER OF THE STADIA AND SECURITY EDUCATION PROGRAMME (SSEP).

The three-day programme taken for granted and we must always be Working with UEFA experts was organised by UEFA’s Stadia and prepared for a worst-case scenario based in the field of stadia and security, and Security unit and is funded from the on a good, solid and well-tested concept. then in group sessions, the 12 asso- UEFA HatTrick Programme. It is target- We must provide a safe environment and ciations of Bulgaria, Croatia, , ed at all UEFA national associations make sure that football can be played in Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Poland, and is designed to create a knowledge a friendly atmosphere where the game Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, platform and share best practice among always takes centre stage.” Turkey and Ukraine examined the les- national associations in the key areas “We hope that through this sons learned from such disasters and of safety and security at matches, to workshop you will exchange views, discussed the current issues and areas explore the latest developments and learn from each other via cases of best for learning and improvement within trends in stadium infrastructure and practice, and keep a network of con- their own associations. to investigate how best to build effec- tacts and information that will prove tive partnerships between stadium useful.” Safety management practice management, match organisers, police Chaired by Michael van Praag, The first day’s afternoon ses- and authorities, all with the aim of chairman of the Stadium and Security sion then covered the safety manage- providing a safe, secure and service- Committee, the course started with some ment practice at a UEFA Champions oriented environment for those in- emotional video footage from three foot- League and a UEFA Cup match, with volved in the game. ball stadium disasters that have helped extensive use of video footage. The Opening the workshop on shape the legacy of change in today’s afternoon finished with a presentation 29 November, the director of the safety environment – the Bradford fire by Steve Thomas, Greater National Associations Division, Jacob of 1985, the Heysel disaster of 1985 and police and UEFA security officer, who Erel, said: “Safety should never be the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. delivered a keynote speech on the role of a UEFA security officer from his

Michael van Praag addresses experience as the security officer at the the seminar. 2004 UEFA Champions League final and 2005 UEFA Cup final.

Developments and trends in stadium design The workshop continued on the second day on the theme of devel- opments and trends in stadium design and management, and striking the right balance between services, and safety and security for fans. It concerned itself with the stadium environment and its part in the safety and security equation at football matches. A presentation by Geraint John, co-author of “Stadia: A Design and Development Guide”, on the

UEFA-pjwoods.ch developments and trends in stadium

08 uefadirect 1.07 Learning by sharing information. OS: UEFA-pjwoods.ch PHOT

design and management was followed Gomes went on to explain that moment, given recent crowd distur- by interactive group sessions, and then new sport-related legislation had left a bances at a UEFA Cup match between a question and answer session with the legacy for the system itself of safety and AS Nancy-Lorraine and Feyenoord, expert panel. security, not only in Portuguese football and the call from Feyenoord director Also evaluated was the impor- itself, but across all the government and Otto Jacobs for the Dutch govern- tance of stadium ownership in relation police authorities. It had established a ment to introduce legislation banning to maintenance and refurbishment and new way of working based on a coordi- known troublemakers from travelling creative ways to get funding for stadi- nated approach between public, semi- abroad. um improvements and renovations. private and private bodies concerned Closing the seminar, UEFA The day ended with a review of with safety and security. Executive Committee member Joseph the role of UEFA and the national asso- Also presenting on the final Mifsud said: ciations in setting and enforcing quality day was David Bohannan from the UK “I am glad to say that after standards for stadium infrastructure. Home Office, who gave a good over- this seminar we are more conscious of view of the different benefits to be safety and security in our own stadia Building effective partnerships gained by all parties involved through and at our own matches, and this On the last day of the work- collaboration, coordination and com- should be the case as this is our busi- shop, the conference participants munication. ness. The subject of insurance did not listened to two keynote speakers, both come up once over the three days and with a great deal of first-hand experi- Workshop ends on high this is good as we should be taking ence on the theme of the day – “Build- The workshop ended with calls all the measures we can to prevent ing Effective Partnerships”. from the national associations for UEFA what is preventable. I wish to describe The important role of national to support them in their national stadi- this seminar as very useful.” governmental bodies was again high- um and security programmes, and for There are four more work- lighted in the opening expert panel help in lobbying their national govern- shops planned to cover all UEFA mem- by Bryan Drew, director of the United ments, with the aim of securing specific ber associations up to February 2007. Kingdom Football Policing Unit, who football-related security legislation. The second one was scheduled from18 said: “Post-Hillsborough made the The timing of this first work- to 20 December, for medium-sized government think about their role in shop came at a particularly poignant national associations. partnership with clubs and the police. It made them change the legislation to make it easier for finances to go into safety and security improvements of stadia.” Paulo Gomes, of the Por- tuguese government, spoke of his ex- perience in making partnerships work, from the EURO 2004 final tournament in Portugal, between football, govern- ment and safety bodies. “Staging EURO 2004 was a big challenge for the govern- ment and citizens of Portugal. Not only did we have to build new infra- structure, with seven new and three refurbished stadia, but we also had to develop a new model for stadia security and safety management,” he said.

“People now feel much safer and more secure going to a football match in Portugal, thanks mainly to the new stadia but also to the model of stewarding and new legislation that was passed under the sport-related Violence

Act. This is directly thanks to EURO EMPICS 2004.” Maintaining security is the key concern for match organisers.

09 António Campinos and Michael Bernasconi presented the Independent European Sport Review.

needed to preserve the training capa- city of clubs.

Report from White paper Next, the European Commis- sion’s most senior official in charge of sport, Odile Quintin, presented her Brussels plans for the forthcoming white paper on sport, which the EU’s executive Seminar on European affairs arm aims to publish before summer 2007. The commission will use the ON 30 NOVEMBER AND 1 DECEMBER, UEFA VICE-PRESIDENT PER RAVN OMDAL white paper to define its current ap- CHAIRED THE FOURTH ANNUAL SEMINAR ON EUROPEAN UNION AFFAIRS AT THE proach to sports policy, and propose BRUSSELS HEADQUARTERS OF THE BELGIAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (URBSFA). some recommendations for future PRESIDENTS, GENERAL SECRETARIES AND SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM 32 NATIONAL action. According to Mrs Quintin, the white paper will explore three areas: ASSOCIATIONS TOOK PART IN THE EVENT. the social aspects of sport, its eco- nomic dimension, and the structure This year’s seminar concen- goals of the review was to implement of sports governance. trated on the Independent European the principles and proposals of the The white paper on sport Sport Review. Two of the chief Nice Declaration, which EU govern- represents an opportunity for the com- architects of the document, António ment leaders agreed in December mission to set out some basic princi- Campinos and Michael Bernasconi, 2000. The declaration recognises that ples for future policy-making. Although launched the first day’s discussions sports governing bodies are independ- the EU has no legal competence to with a lively summary of the review’s ent and have the right to organise legislate in the field of sport, an infor- analysis and recommendations. This themselves in associative structures, mal European sports policy has gave national associations the oppor- have a central role in ensuring solidar- emerged nonetheless. This policy com- tunity to examine the review in detail ity between the various levels of the prises 30 years of case law, including and put their questions to the experts. sport, should ensure the redistribution the Bosman decision, as well as a Messrs Campinos and Berna- of broadcasting revenue to ensure series of political declarations, notably sconi underlined that one of the main solidarity, and should take the action those of Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2000). The white paper will allow the commission to revise its philosophy in the light of recent developments. For UEFA, it is vital that the white paper recognise and promote the special nature, or specificity, of European sport. Football does not behave like a normal economic activity, and UEFA believes that politicians, regulators and courts should recognise this when they apply European and national law.

A strong political signal Ivo Belet, Belgian MEP and a committed ‘Friend of Football’, completed the seminar’s first day by presenting his report on the future of professional football in Europe. Although the report has no legally binding effect, it will send a strong political signal from the European Parliament to the European Commis-

10 uefadirect 1.0711.06 François Per Ravn De Keersmaecker, Omdal led the president discussions. of the Belgian FA.

Gianni Infantino explained resents a further attack on the role of that UEFA’s new rules on the local train- sports governing bodies and their ability ing of players had received wide sup- to set rules in the interests of the sport port among MEPs and a very sympa- as a whole. thetic response from various departments Per Ravn Omdal drew some of the European Commission. UEFA important conclusions at the end of the vice-president Per Ravn Omdal noted seminar. European football was facing that this significant achievement was a number of “severe tests”: wealth was the result of close and intensive cooper- increasingly concentrating in the hands sion and UEFA about how the par- ation between the UEFA Executive of the few, a lack of financial trans- liament sees the future of the profes- Committee and administration. parency was eroding the integrity of the sional game. Alasdair Bell presented the game, clubs were increasingly challeng- Mr Belet has the difficult task recent Meca-Medina decision of the ing sporting rules in the courts, and of finding common ground among European Court of Justice, which has sporting values were under threat. five parliamentary committees, each sent shock waves through all parts of “The governing bodies need with its own approach to professional European sport. By stating that even the legal certainty to address these issues,” football. He has coordinated a work- purely sporting rules of governing bod- said the UEFA vice-president. “If we ing group comprising the MEPs in ies – such as the anti-doping sanctions are unable to set the rules of the game, charge of the five committee opinions, of an organisation such as UEFA – must football will become a free-for-all in and has so far managed to maintain in future comply with EU competition which the richest buy their way to some degree of harmony between rules, the court has further undermined success.” their positions. legal certainty in European sport (see Mr Omdal went on to address Mr Belet’s own committee, uefadirect issue 56). the central challenge facing sport in its in charge of culture and education, relations with the EU: “Football is not will vote on the report at the end of Charleroi case above the law,” he argued, “and we January. This will produce a final text Gianni Infantino completed must respect European and national rules. of perhaps 20 pages, including several the EU update with a discussion of lat- But our governments and regulators pages of recommendations to the est developments in the Charleroi v FIFA must recognise sport’s specificity: it is European Commission, UEFA and other case, which may come before the Euro- unlike any other economic activity, and football bodies. The report will finally pean Court of Justice in 2007. In legal does not operate according to normal come before the European Parliament’s and political terms, this case again rep- commercial rules.” plenary session in March, when all 732 MEPs will have the chance to vote on the final text.

Practical discussions On day two, the seminar maintained its tradition of involving national associations in more practical discussions of the issues. At the start of the morning, the 80 participants divided into three smaller workshops, which examined in detail the key points of the Independent European Sport Review. Members of the UEFA administration were on hand to answer questions and guide the debate. For the second half of the morning, Gianni Infantino, UEFA director of Legal Affairs and Club Licensing, and Alasdair Bell, UEFA’s legal advisor, offered an update on the other issues at the top of the

EU agenda. PHOTOS: UEFA

11 Lively Michel discussions, D’Hooghe both in and Urs Vogel, plenary session chairmen of and groups. the FIFA and UEFA Medical Committees respectively.

template, the doctors said they would 4th UEFA welcome clear guidelines on confiden- tiality issues related to a player’s medical records. Another area of pragmatic Medical Symposium interest was the standard of pitchside care. For example, imagine you’re the doctor of the visiting team in a UEFA match and you’re packing your bag. in Istanbul What do you need to take? What can you expect to find on site? The doctors 20th anniversary of the asked for UEFA’s help in upgrading information flows so that visitors can Medical Committee determine, before they travel, what equipment and what emergency services THE HOSTS CERTAINLY MAINTAINED THEIR REPUTATION FOR HOSPITALITY are already in place at the venue. AT THE 4TH UEFA MEDICAL SYMPOSIUM, STAGED IN ISTANBUL ON THE LAST The team in Istanbul also dis- THREE DAYS OF NOVEMBER. cussed a couple of ‘one is too many’ issues. One death through cardiac arrest The Turkish Football Associa- medical developments, over the last two is one too many, and one positive doping tion, with president Haluk Olosoy at the decades. test is one too many. Compulsory car- helm and Professor Mehmet Binnet – a The UEFA Medical Symposium diac screening is to be upgraded, as this long-standing member of UEFA’s Medical differs from other medical events in allows congenital irregularities to be Committee – working tirelessly along- that it is not so much about techniques detected and treated. And, in terms of side UEFA’s administration in the organi- as about injury prevention, ways of en- rapid response to emergency situations, sational ‘engine room’, offered a warm hancing the protection offered to players Dr Gregor Guthauser’s session under- welcome to doctors from all of UEFA’s and the status, role and efficiency of the lined the importance of resuscitation member associations and team doctors team doctor, not only on the field of play techniques. from the top clubs who have, in recent but also in the dressing-room. That’s why A review of doping controls, years, been collaborating in UEFA’s injury one of the most fascinating sessions was conducted by Dr Jacques Liénard, studies. a ‘head-to-head’ involving Stewart Hillis revealed that the number of tests had As it happens, the symposium and the current Turkish national team increased from 148 in the 1998/99 marked the 20th anniversary of UEFA’s coach, Fatih Terim. They both underlined season to 1,348 in 2005/06. It was Medical Committee, where the current that, these days, the relationships between noticeable that out-of-competition test- vice-chairman, Scotland’s Prof. Stewart the coaching and medical teams are ing (over 80% of the samples were Hillis, was one of the founder members vital in terms of the welfare of individual also tested for EPO) produced no posi- when it was set up in 1986. The current players and the team as a whole. tive findings. And any player tempted chairman, Dr Urs Vogel, was joined by The discussions in Istanbul fo- to take nutritional supplements would his two predecessors, Hans-Jörg Eissmann cused on some highly pragmatic issues, have been alarmed by Dr Hans Geyer of and the current chairman of FIFA’s Med- such as the need to keep detailed medical the German Sport University in Cologne, ical Committee, Dr Michel D’Hooghe, records in a day and age where insurance who highlighted the number of who joined UEFA Technical Director or compensation claims are becoming products which contain anabolic steroids Andy Roxburgh in setting the scene with more commonplace. Apart from a call for and other prohibited substances with- a review of European football, including UEFA to consider producing a standard out listing them on the label. PHOTOS: UEFA

12 uefadirect 1.07 Geoffrey Thompson The kit (seated next to regulations David Will) will chair have the working group been revised. responsible for the revision of the UEFA statutes. FA-pjwoods.ch UE BOZZANI

an Executive Committee working group chaired by vice-president Geoffrey Meetings and Thompson. The aim is to present draft revised statutes to the UEFA congress in 2008. other activities In other business, the Executive Committee approved: Statutes set ■ revised UEFA kit regula- for amendments tions, which will come into force on 1 June 2008, giving the manufacturers ON 7 DECEMBER, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD ITS LAST MEETING OF time to adapt to the new rules; ■ THE YEAR, IN NYON, WITH LENNART JOHANSSON IN THE CHAIR. the 2007 Meridian Cup regulations taking account of the new The imminent UEFA Congress Following the decision it took format, with two under-18 matches in Düsseldorf naturally took up a large at its meeting in Ljubljana in October, between an African and a European part of the meeting, with the approval the committee also agreed on how the representative team, each comprising of the final agenda, deciding who additional CHF 600,000 allocated to a squad of 20; would present the different items, and each member association this season ■ a programme of social approving the budget to be presented and next should be used. A presenta- responsibility activities in connection to the congress (see page 3). tion in this respect will be made at with EURO 2008, costing a total of However, neither the end of the congress. CHF 1.9 million. the year nor the forthcoming congress Proposed amendments to truly create a pause in UEFA’s numerous the UEFA statutes will be put before Last but not least, the com- activities. Among the ongoing business the congress in January, but the Exe- mittee received a status report on the dealt with by the committee at its latest cutive Committee already decided at UEFA club licensing system with an meeting were EU-related matters, in- its meeting in Slovenia that it was time eye to the 31 December deadline for cluding the Independent European Sport to undertake a total revision of the the accreditation of national associa- Review, which has already obtained statutes, the last such revision dating tion manuals. wide support, notably from European back to 1997. Following on from this The meeting closed on a very sports ministers. The Executive Com- decision, the committee approved at positive note, with a report on the mittee also reviewed the progress of its December meeting the terms of incredible development of the activities sales of TV and marketing rights for reference of a “UEFA Statutes Revision and services of UEFA Media Techno- UEFA’s main competitions and was Panel”, which will be supervised by logies SA (UMET). pleased with the success and ever keen interest that these competitions are meeting with in other continents.

EUR 40 million surplus Accordingly, the committee followed the recommendation of the Club Competitions Committee and agreed that the surplus of EUR 40 mil- lion over the projected revenue of EUR 750 million from the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League should be distrib- uted to the 32 clubs that have taken part in the group matches, who will receive an extra million euros each, with the remaining eight million to be distributed in solidarity to the 80 clubs that competed in the first round of the UEFA Cup, who will each receive UEFA-pjwoods.ch EUR 100,000. Last meeting in Nyon for the Executive Committee in its present composition.

13 The draw for the Grassroots football – European Under-21 New members of the Championship charter final round in Arnhem. At its latest meeting, the Executive Committee approved the admission of IMAGES BARON/BONGARTS/GETTY the following eight asso- ciations to UEFA’s grassroots charter: Group A: Netherlands, The final round in the Nether- Finland, Malta, Northern Israel, Portugal, Belgium; lands will also determine Europe’s four Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Group B: Czech Repub- representatives in the 2008 Olympic Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine lic, England, Serbia, Italy. tournament. and Wales. Italy, who have already won the Under-21 title five times, as well as reigning cham- UEFA Futsal Cup – pions the Netherlands, Portugal and Semi-finalists known European Under-21 Serbia, also competed in last year’s final The elite round of the Championship – Draw round in Portugal, while Israel are UEFA Futsal Cup was played at making their first appearance at this the beginning of December and in the Netherlands stage of the competition. determined which four teams The eight teams that This particular edition of would go through to the final have qualified for the final the Under-21 Championship marks the round, which will now take place round of the 2006/07 European transition from final rounds in even- in the same place and at the same Under-21 Championship were numbered years to odd-numbered years. time as the final. separated into two groups in a As a result of this adjustment, which The elite round was draw conducted at Arnhem town the Executive Committee favoured in contested by four hall on 24 November. order to bring the competition out of groups of four teams The final round takes place the shadow of the senior European in four-day mini-tour- in the Netherlands from 10 to 23 June Championship, the current champi- naments. at venues in Arnhem, Groningen (where onship has been reduced to one season In Group A, hosted the final will be played), Heerenveen in duration. After that, it will revert to in Verona, title-holders Boomerang and Nijmegen. its two-season format. Interviú qualified with flying colours by winning all three of their matches, Philipp Lahm tries to take the ball off Luis Figo. Bayern against CC LKW Jistebnik, MNK Split Munich and FC Internazionale have both qualified for the and Arzignano Grifo C/5. first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, where they are joined by two In Moscow, MFK Dinamo other Italian clubs (AC Milan and AS Moscow, who have reached the last Roma), four English (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United), three two finals, finished top of Group B Spanish (Barcelona, Real Madrid and after clearly beating Sporting Clube ), two French (Lille and Olympique Lyonnais), de Portugal and CIP Deva, before one Scottish (Celtic), one drawing with Shakhtar Donetsk. Dutch (PSV Eindhoven) and one Portuguese In Group C, Action 21 (FC Porto). Ten of Charleroi, who won the competition these clubs reached the same stage in 2005, had their superior goal dif- of the competition ference to thank for finishing ahead last season. In addition, the of mini-tournament hosts Clearex eight teams that Chorzow. Marbo Belgrade and Araz finished third in the group stage Naxçivan were the other teams in move across into the group. the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. The semi-finals involve a sec- They are Werder ond Spanish club, El Pozo Murcia, who Bremen, Spartak Moscow, Girondins made their presence felt in Budapest, Bordeaux, Shakhtar where they beat their three opponents, Donetsk, Steaua Bucharest, Benfica, CSKA Dorozhnik Minsk, Kairat Almaty and Moscow and AEK Athens. FK Gödöllö. The final round will take place on the home territory of one of the semi-finalists, to be decided in Janu-

UEFA ary. The draw for the semi-finals will be made there in March, with the matches themselves taking place on 26 April, two days ahead of the final and the consolation match.

14 uefadirect 1.07 Last year’s Footballs finalists, made in Boomerang Africa for Interviú young and Dinamo Africans. Moscow, are still in the running this season. LNFS UEFA UEFA

UEFA Women’s Cup – The first leg of the final Exhibition in Brussels takes place in Umeå on 21 April and The old and the new On 6 December, in Brussels, the return leg is due to be held in a press conference was held to pres- Having dominated the London on 29 April. ent an exhibition entitled “Only a 2005/06 competition, the final of ■ The draws for the elite rounds Game?”, which will be on view at the which involved 1. FFC Frankfurt of the 2006/07 European Under-17 and Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels and 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, the Under-19 Championships were made in from May to September. German clubs have not made it Nyon on 5 December, as was the draw UEFA is contributing to the past the quarter-finals of the UEFA for the second qualifying round of the organisation of this exhibition on Europe Women’s Cup this time. Women’s Under-19 Championship. and football, which is being set up in Title-holders 1. FFC The draw for the qualifying cooperation with the Brussels region and Frankfurt stumbled round of the 2007-09 European Women’s French designer Olivier Guilbaud, to in the quarter-finals Championship was made in Nyon on mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty against Norway’s 13 December. of Rome, on which the European Union Kolbotn. After losing The results of these draws was founded. 2-1 in Oslo, the Ger- will be published in the next issue of man side certainly seemed capable uefadirect. They can also be found of turning things round in the return on UEFA’s official website at Blind football – World title match, and, after little more than an www..com. retained by Argentina hour of play, they had in fact taken Last August, in Monaco, a 3-0 lead. But in the space of two Footballs for Africa UEFA presented its traditional charity minutes, Kolbotn managed to put the To mark the 50th anniver- cheque (for CHF 1 million) to the ball into the back of the net twice, sary of the African Football Con- International Blind Sport Federation knocking the wind out of Frankfurt’s federation (CAF) in 2007, UEFA is (IBSA). sails and eliminating them on the providing 81,000 footballs for One of the highlights in IBSA’s away goals rule. young Africans. calendar took place in November, when In the case of Turbine The balls are being manufac- the 4th Blind Five-a-Side Football World Potsdam, they compromised their tured in Africa using African material Championship took place in Argentina. chances in the first leg by losing and will be distributed to schools in all Title-holders Argentina succeeded 3-0 away to Brøndby in Denmark. countries in the territory covered by in retaining the trophy by beating neigh- A week later, in Germany, the Danish the confederation, with each national bours Brazil 1-0 in the final, which was side struck a decisive blow by open- association receiving 1,000 or 2,000 watched by a crowd of some 2,000. ing the score. Despite eventually footballs, depending on the size of On the European side, Spain winning the match 2-1, it was not the country. lost out on the bronze medal position enough to take Turbine Potsdam The first beneficiaries are the against Paraguay, who beat them 2-1, through to the semi-finals. Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and while France finished fifth, just ahead of Tradition will, however, be Sierra Leone. England. maintained in the final, where Umeå IK will be making their fourth appear- ance and hoping to add to their two victories, in 2003 and 2004, hav- ing lost their first final in 2002. The Swedish side knocked out Saestum of Spain (Vicente Aguilar) the Netherlands in the quarter-finals finished fourth and then went on to polish off Kolbotn in the Blind Five-a side in the semi-finals. Football World The new feature of the 2007 Championship. final will be the first appearance by an English team, Arsenal LFC, who owe this honour to their clear double victory over Icelandic club Breidablik in the quarter-finals and their defeat of Brøndby in the semi-finals, secured thanks to a 2-2 draw in Denmark and

a 3-0 win in London. AFP

15 to sign a “Red card against racism and dis- crimination” charter. ALBANIA Furthermore, a website (www.nefaites- paslesinge.be) has been set up to provide Inauguration of a mini-pitch ÖFB a host of useful information, opinions and experiences. There are also online compe- in Tirana Captain with Trix and Flix, the two EURO 2008 mascots. titions to win tickets to matches or T-shirts UEFA Executive Committee member signed by professional players. Alongside, Michel Platini was in Tirana on 8 Novem- an advert showing a number of Belgian ber for a short visit in order to inaugurate Over the eight matches (3 wins, league players with black first-division ref- a mini-pitch at Hasan Vogli, a local school 1 draw, 4 defeats), eree Jérôme Nzolo was also shown on na- in Tirana. The mini-pitch, built under the fielded a total of 37 players, only two of tional and local television, and inserts were auspices of UEFA’s HatTrick Programme, whom – captain Andreas Ivanschitz and distributed in newspapers. is just one of 60 whose construction is defender Ferdinand Feldhofer (FC Wacker being co-sponsored by UEFA, the Alban- Tirol) – played in all eight. ian FA (FSHF) and local municipalities. A Andreas Ivanschitz (who moved from pleasant surprise awaited Michel Platini in Salzburg to Panathinaikos in Au- the form of a large crowd of people at the gust) clocked up the most number of min- school chanting his name. “I’m very sur- utes on the pitch by far, followed by his prised by the welcome here today – I’ve former team-mate and never seen anything like it. There are a GAK defender . lot of young faces in the crowd, so I can (with FK Vienna in only assume that they were told about the first part of the year and now with me by their parents. I want to thank Boavista Porto) played a crucial part in sev-

them just for knowing my name,” said en of the national team’s 12 goals, scor- PHOTO NEWS the French footballing legend. ing three himself and setting up another This was the Frenchman’s fourth visit four. In other words, this campaign, which to Albania, having previously visited as the The national team has another 12 took place to coincide with the annual ac- French national team coach and in the games scheduled for 2007, starting with tion week organised by FARE (Football course of his duties for FIFA and UEFA. The an away match in Malta on 7 February, Against Racism in Europe, based in the inauguration ceremony was also attend- which comes at the end of the team’s first UK) and UEFA, enjoyed significant sup- ed by local mayor Edi Rama, FSHF presi- training camp in the year preceding EURO port, and it is hoped that it will help erad- dent Armando Duka and general secre- 2008. icate all forms of intolerance, which far tary Roland Mici. Peter Klinglmüller too often disfigures our beautiful game. Lysien Nurishmi Pierre Cornez

BELGIUM BULGARIA No monkey business – say no to racism! New mandate for A news conference held on 10 Octo- Valentin Mihov ber at the headquarters of the Belgian FA On 17th November, in Sofia, the gen- launched an awareness campaign against eral meeting of the Bulgarian Profession- discrimination in football under the slo- al Football League was held in the Rodi- gan “No monkey business – say no to na hall at the Vasil Levski national stadi-

FSHF racism!”. um. The meeting was attended by dele- An enthusiastic crowd greet Michel Platini. The campaign is the joint initiative of gates from the 44 professional football the centre for equal opportunities and clubs in Bulgaria. After some serious against racism, the Belgian FA and various debating, the assembly elected the presi- ministers. From 10 to 29 October, all of dent and executive board of the league. Belgium’s professional football clubs, sup- Valentin Mihov was re-elected for a new AUSTRIA porters’ clubs and players were encour- five-year term by a full majority. aged to “show the red card” to racism and discrimination of any kind, which, re- Year ends on a strong note grettably, are becoming increasingly preva- The Austrian national team played lent in football stadiums. eight matches in 2006 under coach Josef At the same time, prominent activities Hickersberger, whose second spell in were organised at Jupiler League fixtures, charge began with a 2-0 defeat against as well as at regional matches. For exam- Canada on 1 March. The former Rapid ple, posters of the campaign slogan and Vienna coach had to wait until Septem- mascot (a monkey) were handed out to ber for his first win back at the helm of supporters, who were asked to wave the Austrian national team, but he has them as the players went onto the pitch, BFU started to recover lost ground since then, and a well-known player took the micro- with victories against World Cup partici- phone to explain the campaign before Borislav Mihaylov, president of the Bulgarian pants Switzerland (2-1 in ) and each match kicked off. All football clubs FA, with the president of the football league, Trinidad and Tobago (4-1 in Vienna). also received an email appeal asking them Valentin Mihov (right).

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Mihov is a prominent figure in Bulgar- ian football, a former president of the Bul- garian Football Union (BFU) and, since ENGLAND 1996, president of the Bulgarian Profes- sional Football League. Three cooperation agreements A new executive board was elected which includes representatives of ten pro- signed fessional football clubs. FA Chairman Geoffrey Thompson, ac- The general meeting was attended by companied by Head of International Re- the president of the BFU, Borislav Mi- lations Jane Bateman, represented The haylov, and the BFU executive committee Football Association at the OFC’s Extraor-

member Ivan Lekov, who is also vice-chair- dinary Congress and 40th anniversary cel- THE FA man of the state agency of youth and ebration in Tahiti this month. A traditional welcome for Geoffrey Thompson sport. The Oceania Football Confederation in Tahiti. Asen Videnov comprises 11 member countries, the largest of which – since Australia joined Asia earlier this year – is New Zealand. The FA signed three cooperation agree- ments to play a role in assisting the de- the course run by the FF BHZ at its coach velopment of football in the region: with BOSNIA AND education centre. At the same ceremony, the Oceania confederation itself, where diplomas for UEFA A and B licences were The FA has already produced a draft blue- HERZEGOVINA awarded. In all, 233 coaches have suc- print for referee development; and with cessfully completed their training. the islands of Fiji and the Solomon Islands, FK Sarajevo in front at the Returning to events on the field, the ranked second and third respectively in midway point FF BHZ hosted the A2 group European Oceania. After 15 rounds, the first part of the Women’s Championship preliminary tour- Geoffrey Thompson said: “The signing Bosnia-Herzegovina cham- nament, for which the match venues were of these agreements means that our de- pionship is completed. Top of the table at the Asim Ferhatovic Hase Olympic stadi- velopment programme is now worldwide. the midway point are FK Sarajevo, fol- um in Kosevo and the Grbavica stadium. It gives The FA the opportunity to share lowed by NK Zrinjski on four points less, The visiting teams came from Armenia, its expertise with countries in other parts and current champions NK Siroki Brijeg, Israel and Latvia. Israel won the tourna- of the world, complementing the initia- who are currently six points behind FK ment, beating the home team 5-2 in the tives of FIFA and other partners to devel- Sarajevo. Surprisingly, past champions FK deciding match. Israel’s Sarit Shenar scored op the game of football.” Zeljeznicar from Sarajevo and FK Leotar no less than four goals in this match. OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas wel- from Trebinje are not doing so comed the agreement, which fits with well. “the OFC vision”. The championship resumes at He added: “Getting good results on the end of February or beginning the football pitch is important but so is of March. The exact date de- looking after the community that com- pends on the decision of the ex- prises the OFC football family. This ecutive board of the Football agreement with The FA was made in Federation of Bosnia and Herze- the spirit of that ideal and we are con- govina (FF BHZ). fident it will be a success.” The semi-finals of the BHZ cup Nada Grkinic will involve FK Sarajevo, NK Siro- ki Brijeg, NK Celik and FK Slavi- ja. The draw will take place in early spring. The first part of the season FINLAND was marked by many coach comings and goings. Eight clubs have changed coach so far. Hobby managers support young The executive committee de- people in football clubs cided at its last meeting that all After the age of 13, the drop-out rate the national team staff should increases significantly in Finnish football. also be changed and advertised F. KRVAVAC There are not enough alternatives for for selectors, coaches, goalkeeper coach- Bosnia & Herzegovina finished second in those who do not want to play at a very es, doctors and physios. Consequently, the a qualifying tournament for the European competitive level. Women’s Championship. present coaches of the senior and under- of Finland is trying to resolve this problem 21 national teams – Blaz Sliskovic and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s player of the with a “youth influence and hobby proj- Ibrahim Zukanovic – are being replaced. tournament, Sabina Pehic, scored a hat- ect”. One part of the project is to create The technical committee will propose new trick against Latvia. Israel finished on nine a network of “hobby managers”. staff for the 14 national teams to the ex- points, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina Football clubs often have people who ecutive board, which will make the final and Armenia on four points each. Latvia are responsible for competitive activities, decision. did not manage any points at all. but it is much harder to find proper sup- The first coaches to qualify for the UEFA The Bosnia and Herzegovina team was port for those youngsters who see foot- Pro licence received their diplomas in coached by Murat Jaha. ball as a recreational way of having fun Vogosca, having successfully completed Fuad Krvavac rather than as a serious competitive sport.

17 Even if young people are able to act very at the Ferenc Puskás stadium on 9 De- independently, they still often need adult cember. Admirers and fans had the chance THALY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES THALY/AFP/GETTY support. Through this new project, the FA to remember Ferenc Puskás in the stands Ferenc Puskás with another Hungarian football of Finland is helping clubs to appoint legend, goalkeeper Gyula Grosics. of the national stadium. After the cere- youth assistants called “hobby man- mony, the remains of the legendary play- agers”. er were taken to Hosök Tere for a military These assistants need to be familiar farewell. Following this short ceremony, with young people. They have to be peo- HUNGARY the crowd walked to the Szent István ple they know they can trust. The hobby basilica for a Roman Catholic mass. manager’s job is to work in a club as a On the day of the funeral, no matches supportive adult for young people, some- Ferenc Puskás passes away were played in the first or second divisions. one who encourages and listens to them, Hungary lost its most famous and pop- The MSLZ mourns the loss of Ferenc and also supports the “recreational” ular footballer on 17 November, when Fer- Puskás, who was not only a superstar but groups as well as youth decision-making enc Puskás passed away. The 79-year old a gentle and noble man whose memory groups (youth boards, etc.). was not only a legend, not only one of the will stay with us forever. A national hobby manager network best sportsmen Hungary has ever pro- Peter Zimmermann was established in spring 2006. It is led duced, but also an icon, an example of by the “Young Finland” organisation and kindheartedness and elegance. hobby managers in any sport are able At the Hungarian Football Federation to join it. They receive material and train- (MLSZ), a ceremony was held on the LATVIA ing to help them in their youth work. evening of his death. It was attended by There are also meetings within their former “Golden Team” defender Jeno own sport as well as with all the hobby Buzánszkyt and MLSZ president István Women’s team in every club managers. These meetings are very Kisteleki. important for sharing experiences and 2007 is going to be a turning point for Puskás’ former club, Budapest Honvéd, Latvian women’s football, after the Lat- networking. organised its own commemoration. The Minttu Paavola vian Football Federation’s (LFF) board of club’s owner, George F. Hemingway, met administration declared that there must with István Kisteleki, MLSZ vice-president be a women’s football team in every first Antal Dunai and Hungarian national team division (LMT Virsliga) club. The LFF’s rec- technical director Zoltán Magyar. Puskas ommendation is that all clubs, even in the GERMANY played for Budapest Honvéd from 1942 lower divisions, should have a women’s to 1956, winning five domestic champi- coach for girls who are interested in foot- onships and scoring an unprecedented ball. “Women’s football is a must, so we Task force against violence, 358 goals in 349 matches. will ask the local councils to help clubs xenophobia and racism The whole of the football world was all around the country,” said Guntis In his new post as head of security mat- shocked by the news. His former Spanish Indriksons, president of the LFF. ters at the German Football Association club, Real Madrid, said farewell to their The LFF has already established that (DFB), to which he was appointed on 9 legend at their league match against Rac- women’s clubs do not get sufficient ing Santander at Santiago’s Bernabéu sta- November, Helmut Spahn has taken over access to training grounds. There are not dium. The crowd of 78,000 were in tears as chairman of the task force against vio- enough pitches in Latvia and peak train- as the club’s anthem was played by Lau- lence, xenophobia and racism set up at ing hours are reserved for the profes- ra Benítez and photos of “Pancho” Puskás the end of October by the DFB and the sionals first, then for boys, then amateurs were shown on the giant screen. Puskás and then children. Only after their needs German Football League (DFL). played for Real Madrid from 1958 until In addition to Spahn, the 21-strong have been met do girls get a chance to 1967, winning seven championships, two practice. Guntis Indriksons has promised task force includes among others Walter cup competitions and three European Hützen (chairman of the DFB security pan- that once the government has given the Champion Clubs’ Cups. His record four LFF permission to renovate the Daugava el), Andreas Nagel (DFL match operations goals in a final will probably remain un- director), Andreas Morbach (central op- national stadium and build five addition- beaten for a long time to come. al pitches there, use of one of the covered erations unit for sports events), Prof. His funeral was organised by the Gunter A. Pilz (fan research), Ralf Busch pitches will be reserved for girls half of Puskás Ferenc Memorial Committee, the time. However, there is no movement (federal working group on fan projects), chaired by Pál Schmitt, who is the chair- Peter Peters (FC Schalke 04 general man- with the government decision yet; the po- man of the Hungarian Olympic Commit- litical parties still cannot come to an ager) and Christian Reichert (Hamburger tee. The other members of the memorial SV board member). agreement on a long-term stadium lease committee are Mónika Lamperth, interior for the LFF. The current mandate of the task force minister; István Kisteleki, president of the covers eight key areas. In addition to build- Hungarian FA; Joseph S. Blatter, president ing up a nationwide information and re- of FIFA; Lennart Johansson, president of porting system with regard to events that UEFA; Jacques Rogge, president of the In- have relevance for security in German ternational Olympic Committee; Ramón football, it will coordinate measures for Calderón, president of Real Madrid; preventing violence and promoting inte- and Gyula Grosics and Jeno Buzánszky, gration, while providing support for clubs former greats of the legendary “Golden on security management issues and en- Team” of Hungary. Spokesman is György suring close cooperation with government Szöllosi. and other bodies involved in security is- The body of Ferenc Puskás was laid out sues, prevention of violence and the fight at the Szent István basilica for two days against racism. before the funeral. The ceremony itself LFF Stephan Brause started with the “farewell of the nation” The Latvian women’s team.

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In other news, the LFF can report that Ekranas (Panevezys) and third-placed team 2006 was successful from a marketing FC Vetra (Vilnius). All the players of these point of view, and the main sponsors – LITHUANIA teams were also honoured. Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT) and Referee of the year was Vijunas Vasili- Nordea Bank Finland plc, Latvian Branch auskas from Telsiai. It is the first time that – are staying loyal to the LFF, the Latvian Closing ceremony for 2006 this award has been made. first division and the Latvian national team. Lithuanian football celebrated the close A special prize was given to the most 2007 also sees the launch of the Baltic of 2006 with a gala evening honouring correct team in the first division, LKKA ir League, more details of which will be pub- the season’s top teams and players and Teledema (Kaunas). lished on the LFF’s website at lff.lv, a Baltic followed by a concert. The poll to elect the player of the year “A” team tournament, elections for the The celebration was attended by was won by Andrius Velicka, with Man- LFF board of administration, and lots of Lithuanian prime minister Gediminas Kirk- tas Savenas in second place and Darius marketing plans. ilas, MPs Algimantas Salamakinas and Maciulevicius third. Martins Hartmanis Kazimiera Prunskiene, and other distin- The president of the Lithuanian Foot- guished guests. ball Federation, Liutauras Varanavicius, Orders of Merit were awarded to thanked everyone who was contributing Vladimiras Romanovas, Kestutis Birieta to the promotion of Lithuanian football. and Algimantas Liubinskas. The supporters were not forgotten either, LIECHTENSTEIN Awards were made to FBK Kaunas, win- with special certificates awarded in that ners of the 2006 Champions’ Cup, estab- category too. lished in 1945, as well as to runners-up FK Vaiva Zizaite Work finishes on the Rheinpark stadium After about a year of building work, the extended Rheinpark stadium in Vaduz was unveiled to the general public on 26 November. The Vaduz authorities, who nary stadium – soon to be equipped with own the stadium, organised an open day MALTA a FIFA two-star artificial turf surface – host- for tours of the new south and north ed the biggest number of matches, 447 stands, the new training and dressing- in all. Most of these were between teams room facilities, as well as the new offices More dynamic commitment in the lower divisions which represented, of FC Vaduz, which are housed in the Figures for the last financial year of the until last season, 29 out of the then 49 north stand. In addition to an artificial Malta FA show that there was a brisk league clubs in Malta. This total has now pitch, two natural turf pitches are avail- turnover in different areas of the associa- gone up to 51. able. The complex also boasts a children’s tion’s activities. Attendances for competitive matches The rise in the rate of operations rose by about 20,000 over the previous throughout the year reflected the forward- season, an encouraging trend overall in looking policies which are being embarked spectator figures which has been main- upon by the Maltese federation under the tained in the last three seasons. presidency of Joseph Mifsud. It is hoped that these positive results in The national teams and the youth sec- financial and statistical terms, and a re- tor benefited from an increase in the as- newed drive to accommodate the needs of sociation’s outlay. This is evidence of the youth players and the national teams, will importance that is being attached to yield better pastures for clubs and herald a areas relating to a more dynamic brighter future for the game in Malta. commitment to the development Alex Vella of footballers, especially youth players. LFV There were a total of The Rheinpark stadium with its new stands. 1,071 matches in the sea- son which were played playground and a beach volleyball court. at 14 different venues. Ticket sales will no longer take place at in- The all-weather pitch dividual sales points at the different sec- at the Ta’ Qali cente- tors, but at a central sales point next to the main car park. The Liechtenstein FA is particularly pleased with the extension of the north and south stands, which raises the stadi- Michael Mifsud um’s seating capacity from 3,654 to (in red) up against 6,127. In addition, the media will soon a Hungarian have their own working/catering area. defender in the The Rheinpark stadium is the only one EURO 2008 in the country that meets FIFA and UEFA qualifier that Malta won 2-1. requirements. It will be the venue for all of the national team’s home matches and is also home to FC Vaduz, who play in the Swiss Challenge League.

Judith Frommelt D. AQUILINA

19 Sanchez, former internationals Gerry Arm- strong and , and many mem- NETHERLANDS bers of the NI media and IFA staff. The celebration was a double one, as Record holder ends career the IFA commemorated its 126th an- niversary on 18 November. Last month, Marleen Wissink, goal- Caroline Menary keeper of the Dutch women’s team, put

an end to her impressive career. After de- KNVB fending the goal for 141 matches, she ad- Marleen Wissink has retired from mitted that she could no longer deal with international football. the physical strain of international foot- POLAND ball. She will continue her career with Ger- more familiar name of Edwin van der Sar. man club FFC Frankfurt, where she moved He has 118 caps to his name so far but is 11 years ago in order to improve their due to continue until EURO 2008 in Aus- Reform of the football game and to play women’s football at the tria and Switzerland. The question is education system top level. With her club team she has won whether he will be able to overtake Mar- The Polish FA is planning to reform the the German championship five times and leen Wissink’s impressive record. current system for developing young the domestic cup twice. Apart from her football talents. The coaches’ council and Wissink, now 37, served the national medal, Wissink has been invited by the the technical department of the PFA have team for more than 17 years and was pre- Royal Netherlands Football Association drawn up a national programme of foot- sented with the gold medal of the Dutch to do a Level 2 coaching course. Al- ball education for youth and children, Football Association (KNVB) by Hans though she has not yet agreed to do so, the main goal of which is to improve Lesterhuis, president of amateur football she is certainly willing to share her knowl- the selection system for the youngest at the KNVB, before an international edge and experience with her younger players. friendly against Russia in November. successors. The only thing missing in her Wissink started her career on 11 April career has been an appearance in the fi- 1989, playing Norway in a home match. nal tournament of a world champi- One of her team-mates then was current onship, European championship or national coach Vera Pauw. Wissink played Olympic Games. The Dutch team never her last match during the Peace Queen qualified for any of these events. Never- Cup in Korea in early November. theless, Wissink managed to impress in- With 141 caps, the goalkeeper is by far ternational followers of the game and the most capped Dutch international, was once nominated for the world play- male and female combined. The second er of the year award. on the list is another goalkeeper, by the Rob de Leede

Since Derek’s first international match PZPN NORTHERN against Israel at on 18 No- A national youth player development vember 1981 (NI won 1-0) he has: programme. IRELAND •Covered 187 full senior internationals at kit man. It also raises the very important issues Derek McKinley – 25 years •Visited over 40 countries with the team. of the training of coaching staff and the of service to the IFA •Experienced two World Cups (1982 and improvement of stadium infrastructure. The Chief Executive of the Football As- 1986). The education process has been divided sociation of Northern Ireland (IFA), Howard •Witnessed NI triumph for the third time into three stages: the first for 7-12 year Wells, presented IFA employee Derek at the British Home Championships in olds, the second for 13-16 year olds, and McKinley with a commemorative token 1984. the third for 17-19 year olds. The main recently to mark the anniversary of Derek’s •Saw NI win over 50 matches. intention of the PFA is to make football 25 years of service to the association as •Worked with six managers – Billy Bing- accessible to all. The success of the pro- international kit man. ham, , Bryan Hamilton, Lawrie gramme depends closely on the com- McMenemy, Sammy McIlroy and Lawrie mitment and assistance of the local Sanchez. authorities. •Kitted out some of NI’s most famous Currently, there are 16 regional foot- players, including , ball education centres in Poland. Based , , Martin on the existing infrastructure, hundreds O’Neill, Sammy McIlroy, Mal Donaghy, of new small local schools will be set Gerry Armstrong, Ian Stewart, Billy up under the patronage of the PFA. Hamilton and current NI manager Lawrie According to the principles of the ori- Sanchez. ginators of the reform, the homoge- Derek also covered many U21, U19, nous system should ensure that 100 U17 and women’s matches over the years. very well trained and prepared players

IFA Apart from Howard Wells, the presen- will join first and second division clubs Left to right: Jim Boyce, Howard Wells, tation to Derek was also attended by IFA every year. Derek McKinley and Lawrie Sanchez. president Jim Boyce, NI manager Lawrie Michal Kocieba / Bartek Marks

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can also include basketball hoops and REPUBLIC backboards in addition to volleyball posts and nets, which will add further opportu- OF IRELAND nities and variety for sports participation, particularly by children and young people Launch of emerging talent in the neighbourhoods concerned. programme ■ The FAI has also appointed four The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) women’s development officers dedicated recently launched its Emerging Talent Pro- to the growth and support of the gramme, which is designed to produce a women’s game. The four new officers are player pathway to the senior international a core element of the women’s develop- team. ment plan, which is headed up by Noel The programme is the latest initiative King and supported by the Irish Sports of the association’s technical development Council. The FAI now has six full-time ded- plan to be rolled out. Emerging talent pro- icated resources in place to promote and grammes, catering for elite players from develop the women’s game in Ireland. FRF 11 to 16 years of age, are under way in ■ In the eircom League premier divi- The UEFA HatTrick seminar was a 31 schoolboy leagues nationwide. These sion, Shelbourne finished their season in resounding success. feed into eight regional centres through- style by coming from behind against Bo- out Ireland. They, in turn, supply the in- hemians to clinch the title. It was Shel- ticipants), but also praised the way in ternational youth teams and will also de- bourne’s third championship success in which the Romanian FA had organised the liver elite players to the national academy four seasons, as they held off Derry City’s first UEFA course it had ever hosted. which is to be located at Campus Stadi- challenge to win the league on goal dif- “Everything was perfect. The House of um Ireland. ference. Romanian Football offers all the condi- ■ Sport in Ireland will benefit from the The Irish football community has paid tions not only for small meetings but provision of 64 UEFA mini-pitches at var- a final farewell to the Lansdowne Road also for bigger ones, at European and ious local authority-owned locations stadium before the redevelopment of a world level. This was matched by the throughout the country thanks to a EUR new 50,000-seater stadium commences organisational skills of the Romanian FA, 1.6m grant announced by Minister for in 2007. The last ever international game which offered us the best possible en- Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’- at the magical stadium saw the Republic vironment,” he said. Donoghue TD. The allocation will be made of Ireland host San Marino, while the very For the Romanian FA, the workshop available under the Department of Arts, last football match at the venue was the was the highlight of a very busy autumn, Sport and Tourism’s sports capital funding meeting between Derry City and St. in which our FA also hosted three Euro- provision. Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Senior Chal- pean Championship qualifying mini-tour- UEFA, through the Football Association lenge Cup final on 3 December. naments (Under-17s, Under-19s and of Ireland (FAI), is committing a total of Fran Whearty women). It was a precursor to other busy EUR 650,000 towards the scheme and the years ahead, because the aspirations of 26 local authorities concerned are provid- our FA are very high, not only on a sport- ing the mini-pitch sites and will manage ing level, but also with regard to organis- the facilities once they are operational. ing small and big European and world Each mini-pitch will cost in the region ROMANIA events. of EUR 50,000 – 60,000, depending on Paul Zaharia their exact size and the extent of the site preparation required. These synthetic pitch- UEFA workshop es are being installed in strategic locations For the first time, Romania has hosted as identified by the local authorities to en- an important UEFA meeting. The FA’s sure optimum access and usage by their headquarters in Bucharest were the ven- SWEDEN communities. The facilities being provided ue for a workshop within UEFA’s HatTrick knowledge sharing programme, in which representatives from the FAs of Azerbai- IF Elfsborg champions jan, Cyprus, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, IF Elfsborg, led by skipper and Swedish Northern Ireland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slove- international Anders Svensson, won this nia, and, of course, Romania took part. year’s championship after a thrilling bat- The workshop was opened by the presi- tle in the last round with challenging new- dent of the Romanian FA, Mircea Sandu, comers AIK. This was the Borås club’s fifth who said how important these UEFA pro- league title and the first since 1961. grammes and courses were in improving Finishing top of the Superettan and the professionalism of the national asso- hence promoted to the Allsvenskan next ciations. season were Trelleborg and Örebro. Both During the two-day event, held on 23 clubs have recent premiership experience, and 24 November, the participants dis- but the winner of the play-off for promo- cussed very important and interesting tion to the Allsvenskan came as more of event management issues. The partici- a surprise. pants all shared their different experiences IF Brommapojkarna (colloquially “BP”) of organising an important football event from the western suburbs of Stockholm

FAI and found some very good solutions for have always excelled at nurturing talent. improving this crucial activity in the future. Numerous players have started their Minister John O’Donoghue with FAI A UEFA representative expressed not careers with BP before moving on to the president David Blood (right) and chief only how useful this seminar had been (an “bigger” Stockholm clubs and becoming executive John Delaney. opinion which was shared by all the par- internationals. Youth development has al-

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SWITZERLAND SFV

Rot-Schwarz Thun win FC Rot-Schwarz Thun receive the fair play award. fair play trophy In Switzerland too, lack of respect for fair play. Part of this is the “More respect opponents and referees on the football on football pitches” project, which aims pitch has been on the increase recently. to curb the negative trend of dwindling The Swiss Football Association (SFV) is respect for opponents and referees at the not prepared to stand by idly in the face grassroots level. of this unwelcome trend but has planned The 2005/06 fair play trophy was and launched a number of different ac- won by FC Rot-Schwarz Thun from the tivities to counteract it. Bern/Jura association. The club, founded One of these initiatives is a fair play tro- in 1947, currently has 18 teams in various phy for clubs, which continues to enjoy leagues, including 13 youth teams (nine great popularity. for boys, four for girls), three men’s teams In the 2005/06 season, a total of 65 and two women’s teams. clubs comprising each of the 13 regional The basic criteria for the fair play award associations’ top five in the fair play rank- are the numbers of yellow and red cards ings – based on the first phase of league awarded and the resulting number of matches – competed for the national fair match suspensions. In addition, clubs can play award, with the winners honoured gain bonus points on the basis of a report at a ceremony in the Stade de Suisse by an expert match observer, the number Wankdorf. of teams involved in the leagues, includ- Presenting the prizes to the best five ing youth and women’s teams, and the BILBYRAN clubs in the national rankings, SFV presi- final fair play standings of the first and Promotion against the odds for dent Ralph Zloczower stressed in his second match phases. Runners-up in the IF Brommapojkarna, who won their speech that the SFV attaches great value fair play award were SC Zurzach, while play-off against BK Häcken. to fair play on and off the pitch and is do- FC Baden claimed third place. ways been the club’s priority and the team ing its utmost to uphold the concept of Pierre Benoit has always suffered from the constant exodus of fully fledged players and thus never been capable of reaching the top of the ladder before. So this year’s success, which earned BP promotion to the Allsvenskan, was more than amazing. And their chances of avoiding a quick UKRAINE drop back down seem to be quite fair, with over 1,000 licensed players on their books. On the agenda for the FA repre- A book for referees sentatives’ meeting in December is the and journalists proposal to extend the Allsvenskan from The Football Federation of Ukraine FFU 14 to 16 clubs in 2008. Accordingly, only one club would have to go down next (FFU) has published a new handbook – season. “The Football Referee’s Partner” – to aid “The handbook contains useful infor- Former Barcelona striker Henrik Lars- the physical and psychological prepara- mation for both novice referees and son showed the way in Helsingborg’s 2-0 tion of referees, a modern interpretation professionals. It will also interest ordi- win against Gefle in the cup final. In the of the Laws of the Game, and the de- nary fans and be an especially impor- women’s cup final, Linköping won their velopment of refereeing skills. The book tant source of information for journal- first title ever, beating Umeå away from contains clear and helpful information, ists, as well as radio and television home. The result was a real turn-up for not only for the referee, but for everyone commentators, given that it explains a the books, since the Umeå girls had oth- who takes a keen interest in the world’s lot of terms and the Laws of the erwise mowed their way through the sea- favourite game. Game.” son undefeated in both the Damallsven- The author of the publication is Kon- It is also something of a unique pub- skan (fifth league title) and the UEFA stantin Vihrov, who holds a PhD in ped- lication, as it is the only one of its kind in Women’s Cup, where they will face Arse- agogical science and a member of the the world at the moment. It was put to- nal in the final in April. FFU’s technical committee, who has writ- gether with the help of leading Ukrain- Fredrik Ljungberg of Arsenal, who also ten many scientific books on the prepa- ian and European referee Nikolay Laty- captains the national team, was awarded ration of football players and coaches at shev. In view of the enormous demands the Golden Ball as this year’s most pro- top level, as well as programmes for that are placed on referees – a perfect minent footballer. Freddie has been monitoring and managing the training knowledge of the Laws of the Game, the given the same honour once before, in regimes of Ukrainian clubs and national skill to apply them correctly in match sit- 2002. The equivalent prize in women’s teams. He also chairs the FFU’s scientific uations and to take objective decisions, football, the Diamond Ball, was awarded methodology committee and is a UEFA the handbook will be valuable for the to 22-year-old Lotta Schelin of Koppar- and FFU delegate. “Fundamental work preparation of highly skilled native ref- bergs/Göteborg. has been carried out these last three erees. Thomas Saleteg years,” he told the FFU’s press service. Valery Nykonenko

22 uefadirect 1.07 UEFA

Notices

■ On 30 November, Balasz Bérczy took over as general secretary of the Hungar- Communications ian Football Association, following the Birthdays – Calendar resignation of Ildiko Kmety. ■ Sergey Pryadkin has been appointed chief executive of the , replacing Boris Brezgin. ■ In December, the French Football Birthdays ● Alessandro Lulli (Italy, 15.1) Federation moved to: ● Mitja Lainscak (Slovenia, 15.1) Eliane Cremona (Luxembourg), member 87, boulevard de Grenelle, ● Christophe Perruchoud FR-75 738 Paris Cedex 15, France. of the circle of former UEFA committee (Switzerland, 16.1) Tel.: + 33 144 31 73 00 members, celebrates her 75th birthday ● Sune Hellströmer (Sweden, 17.1) Fax: + 33 144 31 73 73 ■ on 24 January, while on the first day of ● Friedrich Stickler (Austria, 18.1) The Football Association of Azerbaijan has a new fax number: the new year, Vlatko Markovic (Croatia), ● Fabrizio Tonelli (Italy, 18.1) +994 12 490 87 22. chairman of the Technical Development ● Vera Pauw (Netherlands, 18.1) Committee, and referee observer Malcolm ● Bujar Kasmi (Albania, 19.1) New book Moffatt (Northern Ireland) turn 70. ● Lars-Åke Lagrell (Sweden, 20.1) A couple of days later, match delegate RACING CLUB DE LENS, ● Pedro Galán Nieto (Spain, 20.1) UN SIECLE DE PASSION Gerhard Sager (Sweden) has his 60th ● Anders Mattsson (Finland, 21.1) EN SANG ET OR birthday on 3 January. UEFA also wishes ● Angel María Villar Llona (Spain, 21.1) Every football follower in Europe many happy returns to: ● Maria Teresa Andreu Grau has heard of Racing Club de Lens, ● who have qualified Necdet Cobanli (Turkey, 1.1) (Spain, 21.1) twice for the UEFA ● Torben Mogensen (Denmark, 1.1) ● Bernd Heynemann (Germany, 22.1) Champions League ● Mustafa Culcu (Turkey, 1.1) ● (Switzerland, 22.1) and regularly finish ● Robert Coar (England, 2.1) ● Teuvo Holopainen (Finland, 23.1) in the upper echelons of the French champ- ● Jerzy Gos (Poland, 2.1) ● Harry M. Been (Netherlands, 23.1) ionship. This year, ● Monica Ortigueira (Switzerland, 2.1) ● Zsolt Füzesi (Hungary, 23.1) Racing Club de Lens ● Robert Sterckx (Belgium, 3.1) ● Pat Quigley (Republic of Ireland, 24.1) celebrates its centenary, and to com- memorate this anniversary, Isabelle ● ● Alexei Spirin (Russia, 4.1) Gevorg Hovhannisyan (Armenia, 15.1) Dupont and Dominique Paquet have ● David George Collins (Wales, 5.1) ● Leonid Dmitranitsa (Belarus, 25.1) traced the history of the club and ● George Sintoris (Greece, 5.1) ● Stig-Ove Sandnes (Norway, 25.1) its importance in the mining region ● Mariano Moreno (Spain, 6.1) ● Metin Kazancioglu (Turkey, 26.1) of Pas-de-Calais (RC Lens, BP 23, FR-62210 Avion, France). ● Walter Clarke (Northern Ireland, 6.1) ● Miroslaw Ryszka (Poland, 26.1) ● Sergei Safaryan (Belarus, 6.1) ● Krister Malmsten (Sweden, 27.1) Obituary ● Sergiy Lysenchuk (Ukraine, 6.1) ● Cosimo Bolognino (Italy, 30.1) Efstratios Papaefstratiou, a member ● Franco Ferrari (Italy, 9.1) ● Nikolai Tolstykh (Russia, 30.1) of the circle of former UEFA committee ● Velid Imamovic (Bosnia & members has passed away at the age Herzegovina, 9.1) of 71. ● Guido Cornella (Switzerland, 10.1) Following many years of service with Forthcoming events the Greek Football Association, he was ● Wolfgang Holzhäuser (Germany, 13.1) its vice-president from 1997 to 2001. ● Sofoklis Pilavios (Greece, 13.1) Meetings At UEFA level, he was a member of the ● Luis Horta (Portugal, 14.1) 24.1.2007, Düsseldorf Appeals Body from 1980 to 1986 and again from 1992 to 1996. He was ● Iljo Dominkovic (Bosnia & Executive Committee then vice-chairman of the Committee Herzegovina, 14.1) 25-26.1.2007, Düsseldorf for Licensed UEFA Match Agents from ● Nodar Akhalkatsi (Georgia, 14.1) UEFA Congress 1996-2000.

WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL Editor André Vieli The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the Produced by Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland official views of UEFA. Official publication of the The reproduction of articles Union des associations or extracts of any information européennes de football Printed by Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson published in uefadirect is authorised, provided the Communications and Public Affairs Division Editorial deadline: 12 December 2006 source is indicated. UEFA Route de Genève 46 Union des associations CH-1260 Nyon européennes de football Switzerland Phone +41 848 00 27 27 Fax +41 848 01 27 27 uefa.com