Quick viewing(Text Mode)

UEFA Champions Leage First Knockout Round Youth Competition

UEFA Champions Leage First Knockout Round Youth Competition

UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.20089:40Page1 No 5870 – FévrierFebruary 2007 2008 Club World Champions AC Milan EURO 2008referees Youth competitiondraws first knockoutround UEFA ChampionsLeague Club World Champions AC Milan EURO 2008referees Youth competitiondraws first knockoutround UEFA ChampionsLeage 2.08 Including 12 09 03 15 12 09 03 15 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 2

Message Photos: UEFA-pjwoods.ch of the president Deeds rather than words A good thousand kilometres separate Düsseldorf and , as does the contrast between their national football associations, being one of Europe’s most powerful national football associations, and Croatia one of those that became autonomous or regained autonomy as a result of the major political changes at the end of the last century, when big countries were split up and Germany, meanwhile, was re-unified. A year also separates Düsseldorf and Zagreb, my first year as UEFA president. I do not want to go over or even just summarise what has been achieved in that time – such reports tend to be exercises which aim to present achievements in the best light possible. Words are vital when it comes to presenting a manifesto, but then it is the deeds that matter, and I hope that everyone has been able to see for themselves that the manifesto I presented at the UEFA Congress in Düsseldorf was not simply a list of good intentions but a programme that we got down to right away, for the IN THIS ISSUE sake of the unity of European football and the defence of its interests. Dialogue and the desire to find joint solutions with the national associations, UEFA Champions League first knockout round 03 leagues, clubs, professional footballers and everyone else involved in our game are the keystone of our efforts to build new and positive relations between all European Elite Women’s Coaches’ Forum 08 football stakeholders. The same goes for our collaboration with FIFA, the other football confederations and the other sports governing bodies. Youth competition draws 09 Rather that presenting my track record here, I prefer to express my satis - faction, my satisfaction at having found willing partners throughout who are willing EURO 2008: referees selected 12 to sit down around the same table and, as far as possible, find global solutions that safeguard the individual interests. AC Milan win the Club World Cup 15 Thank you to everyone concerned. If we continue in this way, there is no doubt that when the time comes, the final analysis will be good. News from member associations 16

Michel Platini COVER UEFA President The UEFA Cup resumes in mid-February. 1. FC Nürnberg (Peer Kluge) are one of the 32 teams still in the running. Photo: Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

02 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 3 UEFA Champions League Milan clubs face English challenge

Jiri Jarosik scores against Shaktar Donetsk. Celtic are particularly formidable opponents on their home turf. PA Wire/PA Photos Wire/PA PA

THE FIRST KNOCKOUT ROUND OF THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ONCE Leagues between them) have not AGAIN BRINGS TOGETHER THE CREAM OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL. faced each other in European competi- tion since the 1964/65 season! Although The 16 participating experienced players. As they prepare to they have not won the English league teams have won Europe’s face Maldini, Nesta and Seedorf, Arsenal since 1990, the “Reds” have performed most prestigious trophy are banking on youth. The “Gunners”, remarkably well in Europe: they have 30 times between them. However, they Champions League finalists in 2006, have reached two of the last three Champi- include three clubs which have reached parted company with and ons League finals (winning in 2005 this stage for the first time. In this blend , but this has not made and losing in 2007, each time against of tradition and renewal, one thing is them less competitive – quite the oppo- AC Milan). This season, the signing certain: the draw has not been kind to site! Youngsters Van Persie, Fabregas – of (the most expensive the Italian clubs. the linchpin of the team, Hleb, Adebayor in the club‘s history) has made them and Senderos have assumed more respon- more of an attacking force, as have Clash of generations sibility for a team that is setting the pace the arrivals of the talented Benayoun By winning the recent FIFA in England. Eighteen-year old Brazilian and Babel. However, Steven Gerrard Club World Cup, AC Milan picked up Pato, a recent addition to the Milan and his team-mates should not under- their 18th international trophy: a world squad, will be determined to prove that estimate Inter, who are on an upward record! The success enjoyed by the not all good young players are on the curve. Despite injuries to several key Champions League holders, currently club’s books… (Stankovic, Vieira, Figo, struggling in , certainly owes a Dacourt) and the dramatic loss of form great deal to the talent of Kaká – Golden 43 years later… of Adriano (loaned to FC São Paulo Ball winner and FIFA World Player of Internazionale and Liverpool until June), the “nerazzurri” are flying the Year – as well as a number of more (with seven European Cups/Champions high in Serie A.

03 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 4

Sergio Ramos Fernando (in white) Torres is has grown congratulated in confidence by his in the Liverpool Real team-mates defence. after scoring against . ??????????????? Getty Images

also a duel between two of the conti- quality which Lyon’s nent’s best young forwards. The Eng- (aged 20) is currently developing. His lish champions include 22-year old performances have forced internation-

Getty Images , one of the top als Baros (Czech Republic) and Fred three players in the (Brazil) onto the bench. Of course, this world according to last-16 tie is not all about these two In memory of Capello the Golden Ball and youngsters. Manchester United – with led both Real FIFA World Player Tevez and Rooney (or Saha) as well Madrid and Roma to their most recent rankings. He is as Ronaldo – have a fearsome strike domestic league titles. However, already leader, a force. Their team also boasts a num- neither club appears to be missing ber of high-quality senior players, such England’s new national team coach. as Scholes, Giggs, Ferdinand and Van The club with the most Champions der Sar. are back League wins to their name (9) is on course after a worrying start to the perhaps less “galáctico” than a season. However, the six-times French few years ago, but their team champions, who lost Malouda, Abidal is looking more solid and and Diarra in the summer, seem less of well-balanced. With Van Nis- a threat than last season, when they telrooy, Raul, Robinho and were eliminated from the Champions Sneijder, they still have a League in the first knockout round. potent strike force. How- ever, the hardworking The stars and the home bankers Diarra, Julio Baptista Winners of the 2006 Cham and Gago offer good pions League, added one protection to the new – Thierry Henry – to their defence, where Sergio already impressive constellation at Ramos is improving all Camp Nou last summer. Even so, the time. After winning in Camp the first half of the season has failed Nou, Bernd Schuster‘s men are on to meet the Catalans‘ expectations. course for another Spanish title. The injury to Eto’o is not the only rea- Roma are also an exciting team to son. has been disappoint- watch, favouring a fast, attacking ing and coach ‘s posi- style of play. While Totti unquestion- tion is under fierce media scrutiny. ably remains their leader, the support On the plus side, alongside the out- of De Rossi, Perrotta and Taddei in Karim standing , two talented Benzema, midfield and Doni, Panucci and Mexes Olympique teenagers – Giovani and Bojan – are in defence is essential. Lyonnais’ beginning to emerge. The Scots, new striking prodigy. despite a number of good players Duel between prodigious (Vennegoor of Hesselink, Nakamura, forwards Boruc), are not on the same technical The clash between level. However, they make up for it Olympique Lyonnais and with grit, determination and excellent Manchester United is home form. In the group phase, Gor- don Strachan‘s men won all three games at , including against AC Milan. However, they lost all three away matches…. Getty Images

04 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 5

Olympiacos Lisandro celebrate Lopez (9), qualifying FC Porto’s for the first goalscorer. knockout round. Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images Getty Images

Edu, one of Fenerbahce’s Brazilian UEFA Cup players. Images Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Sixteen associations still Happy memories the last 16 for the first time in its in contention Playing Schalke will bring history. Their coach, the mythical , The eight UEFA Cup groups back fond memories for Porto: the has brought numerous fellow Brazil- put 24 teams through to Portuguese will be returning to the ians into the team – , the last 32, where they will be joined by the eight Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, of course, as well as Edu, Alex and clubs that finished the where they won the Champions Deivid – while retaining a number of UEFA Champions League groups in League in 2004. Of the players who Turkish players. , for their part, third place, namely, Olympique de Marseille, Rosenborg, Werder lifted the trophy on 26 May that year, have had a tough few months. The , Benfica, Rangers, Sporting, defender Pedro Emanuel is the sole tragic death of their left winger Anto- PSV Eindhoven and Slavia Prague. survivor, but Porto remain an excellent nio Puerta was followed by the mid- Sixteen national associations are still team. Quaresma and season departure to Tottenham of represented in the competition, with Germany alone accounting for goalscorer Lisandro Lopez will pose their influential coach Juande Ramos. five of the clubs. a particular threat to the German Jesus Navas, Kanouté, Poulsen and defence, which only conceded four their team-mates appear to have put goals in the group stage. This defen- these problems behind them and are sive solidity enabled Asamoa, Kuranyi regaining form. and their team-mates to secure the club’s first ever place in the last 16. Surprise and unrest Frequent participants in A match between debutants the Champions League, Olympiacos

Fenerbahçe v Seville is a have only once previously progressed UEFA-pjwoods.ch match between debutants. Although beyond the group phase, in 1999. UEFA General Secretary David Taylor they have won the last two editions of The team coached by Takis Lemonis conducts the draw. the UEFA Cup, this is the Andalusians’ has not therefore suffered from the The draw in Nyon on 21 December first taste of the Champions League. summer departure of . With generated the following ties: They will face a club from the Asian a closely-knit squad including the ■ Aberdeen FC – FC Bayern München part of , which has reached experienced Nikopolidis, Djordjevic ■ AEK FC – Getafe CF and Kovacevic, Olympiacos are a ■ Bolton Wanderers FC – tough proposition. Meanwhile, Club Atlético de Madrid Chelsea‘s owner, , ■ FC Zenit St. Petersburg – The first has limited his investments in the Villarreal CF transfer market. A poor start to the ■ Galatasaray AS – knockout round season led to the resignation of José ■ Mourinho. Despite a host of injuries RSC Anderlecht – ■ FC Schalke 04 – FC Porto FC Girondins de Bordeaux (Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Cudicini, ■ SK Brann – Everton FC ■ AS Roma – Real Madrid CF Terry, Makelele, Malouda, etc.), ■ FC Zürich – SV ■ Olympiacos CFP – Chelsea FC has kept the London ■ Rangers FC – Panathinaikos FC ■ Liverpool FC – FC Internazionale club afloat. Youngsters Salomon ■ PSV Eindhoven – Helsingborgs IF ■ Kalou and Jon Obi Mikel continue Arsenal FC – AC Milan ■ to progress, Ballack has returned to SK Slavia Prague – ■ Celtic FC – FC Barcelona Tottenham Hotspur FC action after seven months out and ■ Olympique Lyonnais – Manchester United FC ■ Rosenborg BK – ACF Fiorentina Shevchenko has already scored as ■ ■ Sporting Clube – FC Basel 1893 Fenerbahçe SK – Seville FC many times in 11 league matches ■ Werder Bremen – SC Braga First leg: 19 February for the first four ties, this season as he did in 30 games in ■ SL Benfica – 1. FC Nürnberg 20 February for the other four. the last campaign (four goals). It is ■ Olympique de Marseille – Second leg: 4 March for the last four ties, therefore not all doom and gloom for FC Spartak Moskva the “Blues”, who have just added 5 March for the first three and 11 March for The first legs will be played on FC Internazionale – Liverpool FC. to their squad. 13/14 February and the return legs Emanuele Saraceno on 21 February.

05 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 6

Reports on all of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Match extracts matches can be found on the club’s website. are shown on Dinamo in action in the UEFA Tbilisi’s website. Champions League against Celtic. Ellis/AFP/Getty Images Pedersen/AFP/Getty Images

tures the legendary faces associated with each trophy. FC Dynamo Kiev is celebrating its 80th anniversary and its The new media numerous victories in style. Accessible in Ukrainian, Russian and English, the club’s website offers to take visitors on a passionate journey through its in the east past. Much like FC Shakhtar Donetsk, it gives the starring role on the site Full steam ahead to the music – the club chants. Dynamo has put its mer- CLUBS FROM THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE chandise shop online and even uses a DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE THE SAME KIND OF MEANS AS THEIR ENGLISH, television channel, Megasport, while Dynamo TV offers exclusive news GERMAN AND ITALIAN COUNTERPARTS, BUT MANY OF THEM ARE JUST through the site on all events that im- AS DYNAMIC AND UP TO DATE. pact the club. “One life, one love”. The slogan that adorns the homepage The representatives of some small and key moments of its matches, at the hits the nail on the head: this Ukrain- nations are certainly still experiencing a same time as being very interactive; ian club has gone to great lengths to few teething problems, especially those its visitors’ views on different topics being communicate with its fans, who can that have not been around for very long. very important to the club. subscribe for free to an electronic This is not the case of Dinamo Tbilisi, win- newsletter. The website offers various ners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup “One life, one love” match extracts and immerses its visi- in 1981, whose conventional website fea- Cups scroll across the screen tors in the lives of the club and the tures many superb videos of the goals to music. A separate pop-up window fea- team: training videos, pre-match ritu- Steaua sets sights high

In a recent survey completed by Romanian amateur supporters – a means of contact. The site was created footballers, Steaua Bucuresti was voted the most popu- in 2002, before I started here. We have no television lar club by 48% of the respondents. Two years ago, the because we lack the staff to manage the production, club with the most laurels in reached the semi- but we want to improve our site, in particular by final of the UEFA Cup once enhancing its interactivity, by again, where it met English incorporating more news and team Middlesbrough. Last year, official information, and by a visit by Real Madrid attracted improving the competition.” 30,000 spectators. Its less spec- Steaua has a very profes- tacular recent performances sional system for ticket sales, mean attendance is down, but even though, for the time Steaua is introducing initiative being, its stadium is far from after initiative nonetheless, in its overrun. “We are struggling quest for excellence. In conjunc- in this respect, but we can still tion with Orange, its telephony move forward. We are going partner, the club sends daily text to sell tickets with the aid of messages of news to any fans two specialist sites. We have who request them. The Steaua merchandise stores in various website contains match replays and numerous items for big cities around the country but we also hope to download. The club also organises a competition giving incorporate an online shop into our website.” fans the chance to win fantastic prizes. The site gets The club shop also sells a traditional magazine, 60,000 or so hits a week. Catalin Fainisi, the club’s press with a circulation of 12,000. “Print media always go officer, looks after the news for the site and the inter- down well. Our magazine contains articles and news face: “The official club sponsors’ logos feature on the items; it too features our products and those of our site, but it is managed by Steaua staff. The site has no sponsors.” sponsor as such. We see it as a service provided to our P.P.

06 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 7

An electronic news - FC Zenit St. Petersburg’s letter to keep up to celebrate winning date with Diogo Rincon the Russian championship (in action against in 2007. AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League) and his Dynamo Kiev team-mates. Kudrjavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Red Star Belgrade: a brand-new site FK Crvena zvezda can look back on 15 years of experience and its website is one of the most popular in . The club has just signed a contract with Pakom Group, a leading telecommunications company. Together they have developed a new site, which went online on 12 November. Alongside numerous news articles and standard features, the Red Star site has become even more interactive. Stefan Ivanovic, the club’s press officer explains: “There is a members-only area, a section reserved Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images for journalists and an online shop. This is just the first phase in an ambi- tious project. We are the most popular club in the country, with a poten- als – the approach is varied and man- tial 3.8 million supporters in Serbia and 2 million in neighbouring coun- ages to be serious and entertaining in tries. We want to forge ties with these supporters and provide them with equal measure. a maximum of information. This is the only way in which we will remain FC Shakhtar Donetsk, another attractive in the eyes of sponsors.” UEFA Champions League club, also opts for action, with some superb match sequences by way of introduc- tion. It may not have a TV channel yet, but the club has set up a camera to provide live footage of the work being carried out on its stadium and visitors can consult written reports on all of its matches. The online shop offers sports items and much more besides. Supporters can download numerous photos for free to liven up their computer screens and the members-only section lets fans share their impressions and put questions to the club.

Take the Zenit tour! FC Zenit St. Petersburg goes a step further. Its site, sponsored by an impressive number of big firms, offers a shop, songs, photos and the

standard website offering, as well as Simon/Bongarts/Getty Images interviews with and daily reports from FK Crvena zvezda offers its wide following an interactive website. players, coaches and managers on Supporters can now receive club news via SMS: “We want to use current topics and ongoing themes. all the technological resources available to us to improve communication. It is also possible to take a virtual tour Text messages are one of our priorities.” of the whole stadium. The club even The site features the logos of numerous commercial partners, from produces a weekly publication, Our Serbia and abroad. There are various big names. “Over the last few years, Zenit, with archives in the online ver- sponsorship has been reduced to the bare minimum. Television adverts, sion. Zenit has a radio station, 89.7, with news about the club and the the baseline for all advertisers, used to be good value. Recently, the situa- town, analyses and music, while TV tion has changed. We are therefore trying to attract new sponsors, by XXI broadcasts commentaries and offering them a high profile in all our activities.” interviews. P. P. Pascale Pierard

07 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 8

Sharing Silvia Neid receives views and her special award experiences from UEFA General at UEFA’s Secretary David headquarters. Taylor, pictured with Executive Committee members Per Ravn Omdal (left) and Mircea Sandu.

should be systematically advertised in the host cities, which was not the Elite Women’s case for the last final round, which was otherwise very well organised. Coaches’ Forum Injury prevention Vera Pauw presented the injury A platform for discussion prevention programme that had been introduced gradually in the ON 11 DECEMBER, THE THIRD UEFA ELITE WOMEN’S COACHES’ FORUM TOOK since 2004. It had emerged from an PLACE IN NYON. THIS ANNUAL EVENT OFFERS COACHES A PLATFORM FOR SHARING analysis revealing that many cruciate EXPERIENCES AND OPINIONS, AND FOR DISCUSSING TRENDS IN ELITE WOMEN’S ligament injuries among Dutch women players could be attributed to insuffi- FOOTBALL, AS WELL AS GIVING THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO FORM NEW CONTACTS cient training. The injury prevention pro- AND RENEW EXISTING ONES. gramme aimed to improve coordination and core stability, and had helped reduce Proposals put forward at the in 2009 (Women’s EURO 2009) in Fin- the risk of injury noticeably in a short forum will be examined and possibly also land were progressing well and were space of time. implemented, as happened, for example, pleased with the latest developments, in with the proposal to increase the number particular the increase in the number of Women’s football coaches of rest days during youth final rounds. final round participants to 12. This The participants all agreed that would upgrade the tournament, which women’s football was fundamentally German FA honoured would help promote and develop different from the men’s game and that Silvia Neid, who led the German women’s football. For future tourna- the requirements for women’s football women’s national team to their second ments, the coaches proposed that the fi- coaches were therefore quite different. world title in a row in China last autumn, nal field should even be extended It was therefore important to encourage received a special plaque in recognition to 16, an idea which, however, requires as many women players as possible to of her outstanding achievements. Maren careful analysis first. pursue a coaching career and pass on Meinert, coach of Germany’s European Regarding the youth sector, their experience. They best knew the Women’s Under-19 Championship win- the coaches were concerned about the needs and what was important. In many ning team, was also honoured. UEFA’s landslide victories recorded in certain countries, there were no special coach Technical Director, Andy Roxburgh, said matches and the associated lack of education programmes for women there was no doubt that Germany media interest. For the European Women’s coaches. Associations were already inte- were setting the benchmark in women’s Under-19 Championship final round, the grating the education of women coaches football. size of the stadiums should be better into their normal programmes, but there suited to the event. In the view of Silvia was still a need for targeted courses. UEFA competitions Neid, a final with two good teams but The fact that the education of women’s The forum participants heard in an empty stadium presented a sad football coaches was getting longer and that preparations for the final round of picture. To overcome this problem, it was more expensive could also cause prob- the Women’s European Championship suggested, for example, that the matches lems in some cases.

Development programme for eliminated teams The mini-tournaments organ- ised by UEFA for the teams eliminated early from European Women’s Champi- onships were welcomed as invaluable. The instructors who attended the tour- naments reported that the participating teams were very grateful to have such an opportunity, and the instructors had aimed to share experiences and advice with the team managers in an effort to bring them closer to the level of the

Photos: UEFA-pjwoods.ch other European teams.

08 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 9

Jim Boyce, vice-chair- Jim Boyce, Viacheslav man of the Youth and Koloskov, chairman Amateur Football of the Youth and Committe, assisted Amateur Football by Henning Sauerbier, Committee and member captain of the German of the Executive team that won the Committee, and U17 fair play trophy. UEFA Technical Director Andy Roxburgh. Sportsfile Sportsfile

Youth competitionTwo seasons atdraws once

ON 28 AND 29 NOVEMBER, DRAWS WERE HELD IN CANNES FOR THE EUROPEAN UNDER-19 AND UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIPS.

For the 2007/08 season, Group 7: Ukraine, , Spain, round in May 2009, the teams have draws were held to establish Armenia. been split into the following 13 groups: the elite round groups. At The matches will take place from Group 1: Northern Ireland, Under-17 level, the fair play 27 April to 31 May 2008 and the winners Belgium, Liechtenstein, ; criterion was required to of each group will qualify for the final Group 2: Romania, , determine the top two third-placed teams round in the Czech Republic from 14 to Denmark, ; and thus complete the list of qualifiers 26 July. Group 3: Czech Republic, (with the top two teams from each quali- Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, fying round group). Destiny then dictated 2008/09 competitions Georgia; the following elite groups: The following day, attention Group 4: Wales, Portugal, Group1: Republic of Ireland, turned to the 2008/09 season, with the , ; Portugal, Germany, ; draw for the qualifying rounds that Group 5: Greece, Republic of Group 2: , Croatia, will take place in autumn 2008. To carry Ireland, Andorra, Luxembourg; Belgium, Denmark; out the draws, the first vice-chairman Group 6: Croatia, Serbia, Group 3: England, Israel, , of the Youth and Amateur Football , ; Russia; Committee, Jim Boyce, was assisted Group 7: Switzerland, Group 4: , Czech by the captains of the winning teams Ukraine, Iceland, Norway; Republic, Serbia, Sweden; in the 2007 fair play competition: Ger- Group 8: , , Group 5: Northern Ireland, many’s Henning Sauerbier for the , Montenegro; Wales, Scotland, Slovenia; Under-17s, and Serbia’s Miloš Bosancic Group 9: Wales, Italy, , Group 6: Italy, Spain, Austria, for the Under-19s. ; Romania; In the Under-17 competition, Group 10: Finland, , Group 7: Netherlands, Hungary, for which Germany will host the final Albania, FYR Macedonia; Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway. Host nations in bold. The matches will be contested between 13 and 31 March 2008 and the group winners will join Turkey for the final round, from 4 to 16 May.

In the European Under-19 Championship, the draw saw the 28 qualifiers distributed as follows: Group 1: England, Belarus, Poland, Serbia; Group 2: Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, Cyprus; Group 3: Norway, Israel, Iceland, Bulgaria;

Group 4: Slovakia, Germany, Spain (Azpilicueta, Croatia, Albania; on the right, in action against Greece in Group 5: Russia, Greece, the U19 final in 2007) Netherlands, Moldova; will again be among the favourites for the Group 6: Italy, France, Sweden, UEFA youth competitions

Switzerland; in 2008 and 2009. Kuban/AFP/Getty Images

09 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 10

Jim Boyce, Match vice-chairman planning of the Youth and after Amateur Football the draw. Committee, presents the 2006/07 U19 fair play trophy to Milos Bosancic, capitain of Serbia’s U19 team. Sportsfile UEFA-pjwoods.ch

Group 11: France, Scotland, Group 3: Italy, Russia, Latvia, Group 12: Israel, Portugal, Slovakia, ; Moldova; Finland, Bulgaria; Group 12: Turkey, Russia, Group 4: Republic of Ireland, Group 13: Switzerland, Spain, Slovenia, Malta; France, Malta, Liechtenstein; Belarus, Faroe Islands. Group 13: England, Spain, Group 5: Slovakia, Norway, The best two in each group Armenia, . Armenia, Slovenia; and the top two number threes will The top two in each group Group 6: Germany, Netherlands, qualify for the elite round. and the top two third-placed teams will Luxembourg, Lithuania; qualify for the elite round. Group 7: Czech Republic, In the Under-19 competition, Georgia, Cyprus, Denmark; Record number for which the final round will be held in Group 8: Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, 52 associations will contest the Iceland, FYR Macedonia; of participants qualifiers in the following configurations: Group 9: Serbia, England, Forty-six national asso - Northern Ireland, Albania; Group 1: Scotland, Hungary, ciations will be taking part in the Group 10: Greece, Poland, Azerbaijan, San Marino; 2008/09 European Women’s Under-19 Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro; Group 2: Croatia, Belgium, Championship, a new participation Group 11: Turkey, Romania, Estonia, Kazakhstan; record for this competition, which is Andorra, Wales; now into its 12th season. Only two of these associa- tions were not directly Maurice Burlaz trophy concerned by the draw settles in Spain made at UEFA’s headquar- ters in Nyon on 11 Decem- The Maurice Burlaz trophy was awarded for the first time in 1990, ber: Belarus, who qualify to honour the national association that achieved the best results in UEFA automatically as hosts of the final round men’s youth competitions over two consecutive years. in July 2009, and titleholders Germany, Its name is a tribute to the former vice-chairman of the Youth exempt from the first qualifying round. Football Committee and pioneer of youth football development, Maurice It will also be the first time that Burlaz. Last year, Spain took the trophy for the sixth time, and the third the Belarus Football Federation has hosted time in a row, entitling the Spanish FA to keep the award for good. the final round of a UEFA competition. At this point it was decided to modify somewhat the rules of the competition, now called UEFA Youth Football Award (Boys) – Maurice The teams were drawn into the Burlaz Trophy. The trophy is no longer following 11 groups: awarded in even years, but in odd, Group 1: Portugal, Norway, meaning a transitional phase was re- Romania, Faroe Islands; quired: the 2005/06 results, which had Group 2: Poland, Austria, already been used to determine the Armenia, Turkey; previous recipients, have been com- Group 3: Sweden, Wales, bined this time with those from the Croatia, Latvia; 2006/07 season to decide on the new Group 4: Netherlands, Spain, winners. Spain, the current titleholders Lithuania, Cyprus; in both UEFA men’s youth competitions, Group 5: Scotland, England, have taken the trophy for the seventh Slovenia, Slovakia; time, leaving Germany and the Czech Group 6: Czech Republic, Republic in joint second position. Finland, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland; A brand-new The ranking takes into account the re- Maurice Burlaz Group 7: Iceland, Republic of trophy for Spain, sults of the Under-17 and Under-19 Eu- who know all ropean Championships of the previous Ireland, Israel, Greece; about success at Group 8: Hungary, Russia, youth level. two seasons. Eight points are awarded Sportsfile to the champions of each competition, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova; seven to the finalists, six to the semi-finalists, two to the third-placed teams Group 9: France, Belgium, in the final-round groups, and one to those in fourth. The best possible FYR Macedonia, Georgia; score is therefore 32 points. Spain took the trophy with a remarkable 30 Group 10: Switzerland, points this year. Denmark, Serbia, Kazakhstan;

10 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 11

The draws Jim Boyce presents for the the fair play trophies women’s youth to Norway’s competitions. women’s U19 captain, Maren Mjelde, and France’s women’s U19 captain, Amandine Henry. UEFA-pjwoods.ch UEFA-pjwoods.ch

Group 11: Ukraine, Italy, Group 4: Denmark, Scotland, The final round in May this Bulgaria, Estonia. Switzerland, Belarus; year will be hosted by one The first qualifying round will Group 5: Norway, Italy, of the countries still in con- be played between 25 and 30 September Ukraine, Portugal; tention and involve the four in the form of mini-tournaments in the Group 6: Republic of Ireland, group winners from the countries highlighted in bold. The top Spain, Netherlands, Serbia. second qualifying round in two in each group will progress to the Mini-tournament hosts in bold. the championship’s inaugural season. second qualifying round – in which Ger- The group winners and the Group 1: England, Netherlands, many will also participate – along with best runner-up (the runner-up with Czech Republic, Belgium; the third-placed side with the best the best record against the rest of the Group 2: France, Scotland, record. The teams will be drawn into six top three in the group) go through Norway, Republic of Ireland; groups of four for the second qualifying to this summer’s final round in France, Group 3: Germany, Sweden, round, which will take place in April alongside the host nation. Germany Switzerland, Poland; 2009. The group winners and the best have held the title for the last two Group 4: Finland, Iceland, runner-up will join the hosts for the seasons. Denmark, Russia. final round in Belarus. The second qualifying round matches will be played in March and April. Sights set on For the teams that ultimately finish the 2008 final round in France New Zealand in the In the current championship, championship in the top three places, the the 24 teams that made it through the Women’s Under-17 adventure will continue in the autumn in New Zealand, where the inaugural FIFA first qualifying round were drawn in Championship U-17 Women’s World Cup will take place. December into the following groups for Two draws for the Euro- the second qualifying round: pean Women’s Under-17 Champi- 2008/09 groups Group 1: Finland, Sweden, onship were also conducted in Forty teams have entered the Austria, Czech Republic; Nyon in December, one for the second European Women’s Under-17 Group 2: Iceland, England, second qualifying round of the Championship. They have been drawn Belgium, Poland; current competition, and the other into the following groups: Group 3: Germany, Hungary, for the first qualifying round of Group 1: Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Romania; the 2008/09 championship. Kazakhstan, Georgia; Group 2: Italy, France, Azerbaijan, Iceland; Group 3: Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania; Group 4: Poland, Czech Republic, FYR Macedonia, Latvia; Group 5: Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Turkey, Faroe Islands; Group 6: Finland, Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia; Group 7: Russia, Sweden, Slovenia, Armenia; Group 8: Switzerland, Scotland, Belarus, Israel; Group 9: Wales, Spain, Romania, Croatia; Group 10: Norway, England, Estonia, Greece. Mini-tournament hosts in bold. The group winners and the Germany (Dzsenifer Marozsan, 16) six best runners-up go through to the

is a leading figure Bongarts/Getty Images second round. in women’s football, both at youth and elite level. 11 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 12

The Referees Committee meets to appoint the ref- erees for EURO 2008 and to review UEFA’s referee classification. UEFA-pjwoods.ch ??????????????? UEFA-pjwoods.ch LOOKING AHEAD TO EURO2008

Referees The Referees Committee also selected eight referees as fourth officials: Ivan Bebek (Croatia), Stéphane Lannoy (France), (Hun- selected gary), Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland), Grzegorz Gilewski (Poland), Olegario NOT LONG AFTER THE EURO 2008 FINAL ROUND DRAW IN LUCERNE, Manuel Bartolo F. Benquerença (Portu- gal), (Scotland) and UEFA’S REFEREES COMMITTEE APPOINTED 12 TEAMS OF REFEREES (Slovenia). TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE 31 MATCHES TO BE PLAYED IN AUSTRIA The 44 officials will meet in Switzerland from 14 to 17 April for a AND SWITZERLAND FROM 7 TO 29 JUNE. preparatory course during which they Applying the same principle opportunity to fine-tune their team will undergo fitness tests and receive as for EURO 2004, the committee has work this season by officiating together precise instructions for the final round. appointed teams comprising a referee in top-level UEFA competition From 3 June, they will be staying in and two assistant referees of the matches, chiefly in the UEFA Cham - Regensdorf, close to Zurich, in a hotel same nationality. The trios concerned pions League. which will serve as their base until have already proved that they can The 12 following teams have 26 June. A doctor, physiotherapist and work well together and have had the been selected: a fitness expert will be on hand there for them. Referee Assistant referee Country

Konrad Plautz Egon Bereuter Austria Markus Mayr Peter Hermans Belgium Alex Verstraeten Darren Cann England Orlowski/Bongarts/Getty Images Mike Mullarkey Carsten Kadach Germany Volker Wezel Dimitris Bozatzidis Greece

Dimitris Saraidaris Sportsfile Konrad Frank Alessandro Griselli Italy Plautz De Bleeckere Paolo Calcagno Adriaan Inia Netherlands Hans Ten Hoove Tom Henning Ovrebo Geir Åge Holen Norway Erik Raestad Lubos Michel Roman Slysko Slovakia Martin Balko Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez Spain Jesús Calvo Guadamuro Peter Fröjdfeldt Stefan Wittberg Sweden

Henrik Andrén Sportsfile Sportsfile Pieter Tom Henning Matthias Arnet Switzerland Vink Ovrebo Stéphane Cuhat

12 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 13

Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, and at the press conference announcing the partnership between UEFA and the ICRC for EURO 2008. ??????????????? UEFA-pjwoods.ch

The officials chosen to stay UEFA will also make a direct News from on for the closing stages of the tourna- contribution to the ICRC by paying ment will then move to . out EUR 4,000 for every goal scored during the final round. “Score for Various other activities are On 13 December, in , also planned, including the sale of a the EU member states adopted the the Red Cross” bracelet, which was presented at so-called EU Reform Treaty, which In November, the Executive the draw in Lucerne. includes a historic article on sport Committee decided to repeat for ■ UEFA is also contributing and makes explicit reference to the EURO 2008 the partnership it en- EUR 500,000 to the EUROSCHOOLS specific nature of sport. The UEFA tered into with the International 2008 project. More than 300 schools president, Michel Platini, described Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Austria, Switzerland and Liechten- this acknowledgement as “a very for EURO 2004. stein are taking part by acting as important step forward”. The purpose of this coopera- ambassadors for UEFA’s 53 member tion is to allow a humanitarian cause to associations during the 2007/08 According to the new Article benefit from the popularity of a major school year. By means of a draw, 149, the European Union “shall sporting event. This time, a public each school was assigned a country to contribute to the promotion of fundraising campaign will be organised learn about during the school year. European sporting issues, while to raise money to support landmine This activity is combined taking account of its specific na- victims in . Via a website, with local, regional and national foot- ture, its structures based on volun- (www.scorefortheredcross.org) which ball tournaments in which the tary activity and its social and edu- will be launched in the spring, support- schools play in the colours of their cational function.” “Union action ers of the 16 teams involved in the designated UEFA association. The shall be aimed at (…) developing EURO 2008 final round will be able to teams, composed of 12-14 year-olds, the European dimension in sport, buy virtual goals for their favourite play according to special rules which by promoting fairness and open- team. As the tournament progresses, a focus on fair play. A final round will ness in sporting competitions and table system will show which countries take place in June at the same time cooperation between bodies have the most generous fans. as EURO 2008. responsible for sports, and by pro- tecting the physical and moral integrity of sportsmen and sports- women, especially the youngest sportsmen and sportswomen.” The article retains the sub- stance of the text proposed in the aborted project to establish a new constitution for Europe which was rejected in 2005. It is also in line with the 2000 Nice Declaration,

Sportsfile Sportsfile Sportsfile Sportsfile which called upon the EU to “take Howard Herbert Kyros Roberto Webb Fandel Vassaras Rosetti account of the social, educational and cultural functions inherent in sport and making it special, in order that the code of ethics and the solidarity essential to the preservation of its social role may be respected and nurtured.” However, the main purpose of Article 149 of the Reform Treaty is to devolve power to the Euro-

Sportsfile Sportsfile Sportsfile Sportsfile pean Union to legislate on sport. Lubos Manuel Enrique Peter Massimo By reading this article alongside Michel Mejuto Gonzalez Fröjdfeldt Busacca the European Commission’s White ➜

13 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 14

➜ Paper on Sport published last summer (see uefadirect Nos 64 and 65), it can be assumed that legislative initiatives concerning

the conditions for qualifying as UEFA-pjwoods.ch and operating as a , the fight against doping, and discrimination will be examined in due course. Creating this right to act Meetings and also means that the EU Council of Ministers will have a “sport” formation when the treaty comes into force. In turn, the member other activities states will have to be more enter- UEFA Congress in Zagreb prising when it comes to sports- related matters at European Delegates from UEFA’s 53 vacated by Michel Platini when he level. member associations will be gather- became a FIFA vice-president on his Although questions remain ing in Zagreb on 31 January for election as UEFA president. regarding how Article 149 will be the 32nd UEFA Congress. Apart from the usual congress interpreted by the European It may be the first time that a business of annual reports and financial Commission and the European UEFA Congress has been hosted by the matters, various presentations will be Court of Justice, the UEFA presi- Croatian Football Association, but it is made, including information on the fea- dent sees this written acknowl- not the first to be held on Croatian terri- sibility study regarding the expansion of edgement of the specific nature tory, as UEFA held its tenth Congress in the European Championship final round. of sport as a source of hope for Dubrovnik on 8 May 1970. At that time the Olympic and sports move- UEFA Congresses were held biennially Important step in relations ments. “A treaty-based reference and UEFA had 33 member associations. with the clubs The 10th UEFA Congress re-elected On 15 January, at FIFA’s head- to the specific nature of sport is a as UEFA president quarters in Zurich, FIFA, UEFA and repre- positive development. We look for a third term. This time round, there sentatives of some of Europe’s major forward to these principles being are no elections on the agenda, the UEFA clubs signed a letter of intent described applied in practice.” Before that, Executive Committee having decided, as starting a new chapter in relations in order for it to come into force, in accordance with the Statutes, that until between the governing bodies and the the Reform Treaty has to be rati- 2009 Mario Lefkaritis should take over clubs. The European Club Forum, whose fied by the 27 EU member states. the seat on the FIFA Executive Committee next meeting was brought forward to 21 and 22 January, then had to give its decision on the creation of a new, independent body recognised by UEFA Change at the UEFA administration to represent the interests of the clubs Jacob Erel, former General Secretary of the Israel Football at European level (see next issue of Association, who joined the UEFA administration in 2000, first as uefadirect or .com). Director of the Competition Organisation Division, then as Director of the National Associa- tions Division, left his posi- Draw for the first tion in mid-January. European Under-21 The new director of the National Associa- Futsal Tournament tions Division is Theodore In April 2007, in view Theodoridis, a member of the continuing popularity of of the board of the Greek futsal in Europe, the UEFA Execu- Football Association since tive Committee approved the 1997, who is already very introduction of an Under-21 futsal familiar with UEFA, having competition. been a member of the At its meeting in Lucerne, Theodore Theodoridis. Stadium and Security the Executive Committee, at the recom- UEFA Committee for six years mendation of the Futsal and Beach and subsequently vice-chairman of the current Club Competitions Soccer Committee, decided that the Committee. final round of this inaugural competi- He took up his new position with the UEFA administration tion would be hosted by the Russian on 22 January. Football Union in St Petersburg. The

14 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 15

Draw for the first The luck Kaká, who dominated European Under-21 of the draw! the final, nets AC Milan’s Futsal Tournament. third goal. UEFA-pjwoods.ch Sabattini

Russian team therefore qualifies auto- Club World Cup national Stadium. They went into the matically for the final round. lead almost halfway through the first Twenty-eight other national for AC Milan half with a goal from , associations have entered the compe- AC Milan are certainly but it only took Boca two minutes to tition. They were divided into the fol- not short of international trophies, equalise, with Rodrigo Palacio putting lowing seven groups in a draw made having, apart from anything the ball into the back of the net. in Nyon on 13 December: else, won the European Cup/UEFA Led by Kaká, who was in Group 1: Slovenia, Belgium, Champions League seven times superb form and who had a fantastic Georgia, Bulgaria; so far. end to his year, receiving the Golden Group 2: Ukraine, Poland, The last trophy they lifted was, Ball and the FIFA World Player of the Lithuania, Romania; however, a bit special, first because Year award, and being named best Group 3: Spain, Slovakia, they were the first European club to player of the tournament in the Club Greece, Switzerland; win the Club World Cup in the com- World Cup, there was no stopping Group 4: Netherlands, petition’s short history, and secondly, AC Milan in the second half, with a Andorra, Azerbaijan, Republic of because AC Milan have achieved the further three goals – from Nesta, Kaká Ireland; international treble: UEFA Champions and Inzaghi – assuring them of victory, Group 5: Hungary, Belarus, League, UEFA Super Cup and Club while Boca were only able to reduce Latvia, Kazakhstan; World Cup, a feat that they also the margin thanks to a late goal. Group 6: Italy, Moldova, achieved in 1989 and 1990, when the On their way to the final, France, Turkey; precursor to the Club World Cup, ’s players faced tough Group 7: Czech Republic, the European/South American Cup, opposition from Urawa Red Diamonds Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Armenia. was still in place. () in the semi-finals, beating Mini-tournament hosts shown in bold. AC Milan have less fond them 1-0, while Boca eliminated Etoile Sportive du Sahel (Tunisia) by The group matches will take memories of their last appearance in place between 7 and 13 April. The the European/South American Cup, the same score. Urawa Red Diamonds seven group winners will join Russia in 2003, as they lost on penalty kicks finished the competition in third in the final round in December. to none other than Boca Juniors of place, by beating Etoile Sportive du , their opponents in the final Sahel on penalty kicks after the match of the 2007 Club World Cup. had ended 2-2. The Italian club was therefore As a result of their latest vic- February draw intent on evening out the record on tory, AC Milan’s tally of major interna- for the UEFA 16 December at the Yokohama Inter- tional trophies goes up to 18. Regions’ Cup The UEFA Regions’ Cup, created in 1998 for amateur foot- ballers, moves into its sixth season in 2008/09. The competition is experiencing a surge in popularity, as 41 national associations have entered – a record, and a consid- erable increase over the 32 teams that took part in the first competition and even compared with the 37 involved in 2006/07. The 2008/09 competition

kicks off on 26 February, when the Getty Images draw for the preliminary and interme- diate rounds will be made at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon. The final round will take place in June 2009 in the country of one of the teams that reaches that stage.

15 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 16

The juggling competition attracted a big crowd. AFFA

Aliyev, and with the agreement signed by are also supporting this bid, proved to the Association of Football Federations of everyone that our two countries were AUSTRIA Azerbaijan (AFFA) and McDonald’s, a “ball capable of organising a major interna- festival” was held in on 16 Decem- tional event, as EURO 2000 was a great Christmas bazaar makes net ber in which 151 children participated. success.” Asif Bagirov, a well-known correspondent On 14 November, representatives of profit of EUR 7,288! in Baku, presided over the festival and the Belgian and Dutch football associa- Now already 26 years old, the tradi- kicked off the ceremony with an opening tions met the FIFA president, Joseph S. tional Christmas bazaar of the Austrian speech. Blatter, in what was described as a posi- Football Association (ÖFB) took place at Then the floor was given to Elkhan tive meeting. However, we must not get the stadium in Vienna on the Mammadov, General Secretary of the too enthusiastic, as several bids will be up third weekend in Advent. For numerous AFFA, who said: “The main aim of this fes- for consideration and the other countries football fans, it was an opportunity not to tival, which will be a traditional event, is in the running to host the 2018 World be missed and they flocked to the bazaar to spot talented young footballers, to de- Cup will also have aspects in their favour. in their hoards. The ÖFB is also grateful to velop football for children, and to high- the likes of UEFA, FIFA, national team play- light the role of football in a healthy ers and the many sponsors and friends lifestyle. I believe that the “ball festival” who generously donated items to the sale. will play a large part in achieving these Thanks to the keen football fan shop- objectives. I wish good luck to everyone pers and collectors, the bazaar made a net taking part in the festival.” profit of EUR 7,288 which has gone to- Sayavush Ibrahimov explained the rules wards the association’s “Charity 08” cam- of the competition. Participants who could paign and raises the total amount in the juggle the ball the most times in three ÖFB’s benefit project account to an im- minutes would go through to the next pressive EUR 57,388.45. stage, which would be judged in a simi- lar way. The winner, runner-up and third- placed participant would be those who Photo News juggled the most. François De Keersmaecker, President Parviz Mutallimov (born in 1994) fin- of the Belgian FA (left) and Alain Courtois ished in third place, Mammad Khalilov launch the Belgio-Dutch bid to host (1993) in second place and Rahman the 2018 World Cup finals. Shabanov (1996) in first place. They all received prizes, which were presented by We will therefore have to make a huge the acting president of the AFFA, Elshad effort to increase our chances of organis- Nasirov, General Secretary Elkhan Mam- ing the greatest football tournament in

ÖFB madov, national team goalkeeper Farhad the world. Stadiums will also have to be Alfred Ludwig, General Secretary Valiyev, representatives of McDonald’s and built or renovated, as one of the prere - of the Austrian FA, mans one of the stalls Hyundai Auto Azerbaijan. quisites for hosting the World Cup is to at the Christmas bazaar. T-shirts and balls were awarded to all have stadiums with a minimum capacity the participants by the AFFA at the end. of 40,000 seats. In this respect, the assis- Hundreds of clubs, the , re- Ulviya tance of the public and private sectors will gional associations, as well as the ÖFB’s be necessary. sponsors, have already donated liberally A joint effort will therefore be required to the “Charity 08” campaign. In addi- to ensure that our bid can be handed in to tion, at the end-of-year celebration in No- BELGIUM FIFA by 31 December 2010, a year ahead vember , collectors’ items such as an orig- of the final decision, which FIFA will take inal jersey from the U20 World Cup in in December 2011. Canada (worn by team captain Sebastian 2018 World Cup bid launched Pierre Cornez Prödl) and a Champions League ball auto- graphed by Ronaldinho were auctioned. The Belgio-Dutch bid to host the 2018 The net profit made from this event also World Cup was presented in Brussels on went towards the “Charity 08” campaign. 20 December. BOSNIA- The aim is to collect a six-figure amount Alain Courtois, coordinator of the pro- HERZEGOVINA which will be used to assist needy mem- ject in Belgium and the Netherlands, and bers of the football family in the coming former EURO 2000 director, presented the project to the Belgian political, economic New president and year. In the spring, the ÖFB will present national coach the projects it is supporting. and social authorities. Other Belgian fig- The annual general meeting of the Peter Klinglmüller ures also addressed the gathering, including the prime minister, Guy Verhof- Football Federation of Bosnia and Herze- stad, and the president of the Belgian govina (FF BHZ) was held in at Football Association, François De Keers- the beginning of December. A new mem- maecker. ber of the presidium was elected, follow- AZERBAIJAN All agreed that it was a dream, but an ing the sudden death of the president, achievable one. Nothing is impossible, as Milan Jelic. In addition to Iljo Dominkovic François De Keersmaecker said: “When and Sulejman Colakovic, the new mem- Ball festival in Baku my predecessors wanted to host EURO ber of the presidency will be Bogdan In accordance with the state pro- 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, a Ceko, who was voted for by 42 of the 52 gramme for the development of football lot of people were sceptical about the delegates present. The new president of in Azerbaijan from 2005 to 2015 signed chances of such a project succeeding. the federation for the next 16 months is by the president of the republic, Ilham However, the organisers of the time, who Iljo Dominkovic.

16 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 17

fromN memberEWS associations

A meeting of the FF BHZ executive home team) and the Netherlands in committee was also held in December, at Amsterdam (2-0 win for the home team). which the head coaches of all the national Kodro, who played for Velez (Mostar), teams, except for Velimir Stojnic, were dis- Real Sociedad, Barcelona, Tenerife, Alaves missed, including Fuad Muzurovic, head and Maccabi Tel Aviv, made 13 appear- coach of the national A team. The exec- ances for the national team of Bosnia- utive committee was not satisfied with Herzegovina and scored three times be- the final reports on the results achieved tween his debut against Albania (0-0) in by the national teams in their qualifying Zenica in April 1996 and his last match at

matches last year. However, after making Kosevo in April 2000 against a FIFA World BFU it through the first round of qualifiers, Stars selection. He also played for the na- Borislav Mihaylov, President of the BFU (right) Stojnic’s Under-17s will try to do better tional team in the 1998 World Cup qual- is to meet the president of Bulgaria. in March this year when they take on ifying competition. the Netherlands, Hungary and Norway in He was assistant coach at Real Socie - national team, with 47 points. Altogether, the elite round. dad (Spain). 32 players were nominated for the poll. The resignation of the director of all Fuad Krvavac Separate awards were handed out the national teams, Ahmet Pasalic, was for the best goalkeeper (Georgi Petkov, accepted. Levski ), best defender (Alexander To replace Muzurovic, the executive Tunchev, CSKA Sofia), best committee unanimously elected Meho BULGARIA (Marcho Dafchev, Lokomotiv Sofia) and Kodro as the new head coach. From 20 best forward (Zdravko Lazarov, Slavia candidates, the presidium drew up a Sofia). The award for the most improved shortlist of three candidates: Lothar Dimitar Berbatov footballer young footballer was won by Nikolai Matthäus (Germany), Zlatko Kranjcar of the year Dimitrov, who at the age of 19 broke into (Croatia) and Meho Kodro (Bosnia-Herze- In the annual poll to select Bulgaria’s the first team of the Bulgarian champions, govina). The executive committee gave its footballer of the year, Dimitar Berbatov Levski Sofia. backing to Meho Kodro (40), who will was voted the top choice by the 139 foot- In mid-December, the Bulgarian Foot- lead the national team in their 2010 World ball reporters and pundits. The Bulgaria ball Union (BFU) organised a national con- Cup qualifying campaign, where the and Tottenham forward took 327 out of ference dealing with the issues of youth Bosnians will meet Spain, Turkey, Belgium, a possible 417 points. The runners-up were football and youth development. The con- Armenia and Estonia in Group 5. Bulgaria and Manchester City winger Mar- ference was in accordance with UEFA’s Meho Kodro actually captained tin Petrov with 276 points, and Georgi requirements for youth football develop- the Bosnia-Herzegovina national team Petkov, goalkeeper of the Bulgarian cham- ment. The forum ended up taking five during Muzurovic’s first mandate. Meho pions Levski Sofia and of the Bulgarian major decisions, the most important of ➜ Kodro leads his players out for the first time for a friendly away to Japan on 30 January. In November, the national Under-19 team made it through to the elite round CYPRUS of the European Under-19 Championship. In the qualifying round, Cyprus finished Positive results second in Group 10. In the elite round, the side will come up against Hungary, After evaluating its senior national Portugal and Lithuania. All the matches team’s overall performance, as well as its are to be played in Hungary, from 18 to progress and encouraging results in the 25 May. EURO 2008 qualifiers, the Cyprus FA has Kyriacos Giorgallis decided to extend its contract with head coach Angelos Anastasiades until 2010. The national team played in Group D and was chasing third place right up until the last qualifying match. Unfortu- F.Krvavac nately, the team ended up sixth, but with The AGM of the federation. a total of 14 points this was Cyprus’s “It is a great honour to lead the na- most successful qualifying campaign ever. tional team of my home country, espe- The effort required was massive, as five of cially since I played for this team. I am ex- the team’s six opponents were ranked pecting a difficult assignment and heavy above them. responsibility, and I hope that all of us to- Setting another record, captain Yiannis gether, with the FF BHZ players and fans, Okkas took his number of national can make a successful start to the next appearances to 84 during the EURO 2008 qualifying competition”, said Meho Kodro. campaign, making him Cyprus’s most- Meho Kodro knows all about Bosnian capped player, ahead of ex-captain, football. He played with goalkeeper and previous record-holder, Charalambos Adnan Guso, who still plays for the Pittas, who was capped 82 times. national team. Kodro also played two Cyprus is now preparing and planning for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and, as Yiannis Okkas matches for the former Yugoslavian is now his country’s national team, led by , against a first step, the national team will host a most capped player. Sweden in (4-3 win for the friendly against Ukraine on 6 February. CFA

17 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 18

➜ which is considered to be the decision to Türkiyemspor e.V. was founded schedule a meeting of the BFU president, in 1978 in the Berlin borough of Borislav Mihaylov, with the president of GERMANY Kreuzberg by immigrants. Today, Türki- Bulgaria. During this meeting, issues to be yemspor, the best known Turkish-rooted addressed will include the problem of fa- club in Germany, consists of three men’s cility and ground ownership and man- 2007 integration prize awarded teams, 14 youth teams and three girls’ agement. In Bulgaria, club stadiums, train- to Turkish club in Berlin teams. Its membership is multi-ethnic. ing grounds and other football-related fa- The German Football Association Türkiyemspor has always been a target cilities are not owned by the professional (DFB) and its general sponsor, Mercedes- for right-wing extremists. The club man- football clubs but by the local authorities. Benz, have awarded their joint “integra- agement endeavours to deal with this This means that the clubs have no incen- tion prize” in three categories to the problem in a constructive way. Thus, an tive to develop and modernise the Berlin club Türkiyemspor, to St Norbert’s anti-racism project was developed in grounds, stadiums and practice facilities school in Vreden and to the Frankfurt cooperation with schools, youth clubs for youth football. sports district. Some 200 clubs, schools and mosques. Likewise, the promotion In mid-January, representatives from all and other groups submitted projects. of girls’ football is sending a signal to the the football associations in European Qual- “It is impressive to see the huge com- Turkish community. The Catholic St Nor- ifying Group 8 for the 2010 World Cup in mitment and imagination that has gone bert’s school, an inner city voluntary all- South Africa got together in Sofia to pre- into the initiatives to promote peaceful day school, places an emphasis on inte- pare their match schedule for 2008 and and fair co-existence in our country,” said gration, for the purpose of which after- 2009. The meeting was attended by rep- the DFB’s president, Theo Zwanziger. noon football lessons are also used. In resentatives from Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, , manager of the national the “Special Prize” category, the Frank- Georgia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria. team, presented the prizes on 4 January furt sports district was recognised for its during the Mercedes-Benz Youth Cup at “NO to Racism” project in the Gallus dis- Borislav Konstantinov the Glaspalast arena in Sindelfingen. trict of the city. Young people were inte- grated into the job market and also en- couraged to join local football clubs.

It does this by training local coaches and educators to coach football and to ENGLAND use the game to spark debate about HIV and AIDS among children in their com- munities. Cooperation with Coaching CFH already runs successful pro- For Hope grammes in Burkina Faso and Mali, and England women’s head coach Hope with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa Powell shared her football expertise with on the horizon, the charity chose to pilot Oliver underprivileged children in Cape Town in its project in Cape Town to coincide with Bierhoff December in her role as ambassador for World AIDS Day on 1 December. presents FA international charity partner Coaching South Africa has the highest number the awards. For Hope. of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Niedermueller/Bongarts/Getty Images Coaching For Hope (CFH) uses football world, with an average of 1,500 people The prize is an important element of to empower vulnerable young people in infected daily. There are more than 42m the DFB’s integration work. Its national the developing world and makes them HIV-infected people globally, with nearly teams and youth teams have long aware of the dangers of HIV and AIDS. 30 million of those in Africa. reflected this social reality. Since Powell said: “I feel proud to be involved December 2006, Gül Keskinler, who in The FA’s international work and with takes care of this work for the DFB on a Coaching For Hope, and I was delighted voluntary basis, has been involved in of- to be part of the coaching programme. fering training as part of the association’s “It was a real eye-opener, not just for coach and referee education. Each win- myself, but for the other coaches from ning project receives a Mercedes-Benz England. It’s great to be able to share our Vito van. The second prize in each cate- skills with local coaches in South Africa gory was EUR 10,000 in cash, and the and to help their development. third prize EUR 5,000. “It was the first time some of the male Thomas Hackbarth and female coaches on the course had been coached by a woman, but that has hopefully helped to emphasise the need to empower girls and women so that they can ICELAND tackle the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. “Girls and women in Africa need pos- itive role models and I hope my presence Olafur Johannesson the new proved that irrespective of gender, you can man in charge still take responsibility for your own des- Late in October, the FA of Iceland an- tiny and aim high.” nounced that it would not negotiate a Powell was joined at the Marsh Memo- new contract with the national team rial Children’s Home in Rondenbosch by coach, Eyjolfur Sverrisson. By mutual deci- coaches from Tottenham Hotspur, Ever- sion, it was decided that Sverrisson would ton, Queens Park Rangers and a local step down right away and not be in con- trainer from an organisation called Kick- Eddy Mulholland ing Aids Out. trol for the last EURO 2008 qualifying Hope Powell shares her expertise. Nada Grkinic match against Denmark.

18 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 19

EWS from member associationsN

The site comprises over 100,000 pages, Guna Abolina (Saldus FK Lutrini), best with data on around 1,600 teams and coach was Romans Grigorcuks (FK over 35,000 players from all the domes- Ventspils), and the best three LMT Virsli- tic leagues in Israel – from the premier ga players were Vits Rimkus (FK Ventspils), league’s top flight all the way down to the Andris Vanins (FK Ventspils) and Astafjevs. youth divisions. Users are now able to con- For particular positions in the 2007 duct a simple search and discover all kinds LMT Virsliga, best goalkeeper was Vanins, Bech/AFP/Getty Images of information. best defender Deniss Ivanovs (Liepajas Denmark-Iceland was the first match under Next month, the English version will be Metalurgs), best midfielder Astafjevs, and the direction of Olafur Johannesson. launched and a unique national team forward Rimkus. The best Under-21 play- search engine will be unveiled, enabling er was Aleksandrs Cauna (Skonto FC) and A few days later, a new national users to receive information on various his- best player in the Traffic First League was team coach was introduced, 50-year-old toric national team matches in all cate- Aleksandrs Cekulajevs (FK Auda). Olafur Johannesson. Johannesson had just gories. As part of its unique services, the The match organisers prize for the stepped down as a coach of FH Hafnarf- site has an FAQ section, a download cen- 2007 LMT Virsliga went to FK Ventspils. jordur. Under his helm, FH won three tre and extensive details about clubs, play- The Latvian Football Federation also made domestic league titles in a row, while in ers and match officials. an award to the best football photogra- the 2007 season, FH won the Icelandic Each individual (player, coach or match pher – Zigismunds Zalmanis, to the best cup for the first time in its history but official) has their own webpage that is au- football journalists – Anatolijs Kreipans came second in the league. tomatically updated with a wealth of sta- and Vladimirs Karpuskins, and to the Johannesson picked three new players tistics following matches. A special sec- best football media – the Latvian LTV7 for the squad to play Denmark, a game tion is also reserved for authorised users channel. which Denmark won 3-0. The next task (club and team representatives and IFA In other news, the traditional Livonian for Johannesson is at the beginning of members) providing access to more cup was played between the Latvian and February, when the national team will play information than is available to the gen- Estonian champions in mid-January. It was in an international four nations tourna- eral public, including personal data, IFA held in conjunction with the ment in Malta. The opponents there will budget approvals and disciplinary records. meeting for 2008, where all clubs and fed- be the hosts, Armenia and Belarus. The Ofer Ronen erations of the Baltic countries met to dis- tournament takes place on 2, 4 and 6 Feb- cuss the forthcoming season. ruary, with only the last date classified as ■ Gunars Akerbergs, an active run- an international date. It will therefore be ner, statistician, football organiser and ex- a good opportunity for Johannesson to ecutive secretary of the LFF, passed away take a look at players who play in the LATVIA on 3 January after a long illness. His col- domestic league in Iceland. A friendly leagues at the LFF express their condo- game against the Faroe Islands will be lences to his family and friends. played indoors at Kornum, a full-size foot- Astafjevs best player of 2007 Martins Hartmanis ball hall, on 16 March. This is the first time A poll conducted among the media, that the men’s national team will play coaches and Latvian FA (LFF) senior offi- indoors. The national team will also play cials revealed that the best football play- Slovakia away on 26 March. The last er in Latvia in 2007 was the national team MALTA scheduled friendly game is on 28 May, and Skonto FC captain Vitalijs Astafjevs. when Wales will visit Iceland and play at He and the other ten laureates were the Laugardalsvollur stadium. honoured at Latvian football’s annual Healthy relationship These friendly games will come in very event in on 26 December. with the media useful for Johannesson as he prepares the According to the results of the poll, Icelandic team for its 2010 World Cup Latvia’s top three players of 2007 were Unless national associations have a qualifying campaign, in which Iceland will Vitalijs Astafjevs (Skonto FC), Kaspars sound relationship with all stakeholders in play in Group 9 with the Netherlands, Gorkss (Blackpool FC) and Juris Laizans the game, football cannot thrive along Scotland, Norway and FYR Macedonia. (Kuban). Best woman was healthy lines. Foremost in reflecting this Thorvaldur Ingimundarson rapport is the media, whose close links with the public make it possible for the associations to build a good image. Such a relationship is an integral part ISRAEL of this image-building commitment which is being advocated by UEFA in its edu - cational programme for all its member New website associations. This was the principal theme The end of last month ushered in of the European confederation’s very fruit- a new and exciting era in Israeli foot - ful KISS (Knowledge Information Sharing ball as the Israel Football Association Scenario) seminar held in December (IFA) launched its new website, under its HatTrick programme. www.football.org.il. The aim of the site is The Malta FA has long been support- to bring modern-day football closer to ing this principle of optimising its links clubs, players, coaches, and fans, as well with the football fraternity through as to communities worldwide. With a proper media and communication man- combination of advanced web technolo- agement. Thus, it is helping to build a per- gy, data management and user-friendly LFF ception as an efficient and cooperative Vitalijs Astafjevs, Latvia’s player design, the IFA website provides a wealth of the year, is congratulated by Zigismunds association. of in-depth historical and up-to-date Zalmanis, who himself received For a small country like Malta, the serv- information about Israeli football. the prize of best football photographer. ice to football given by the sports media ➜

19 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 20

The Malta FA is developing its relations with the media. D.Aquilina

➜ is remarkably extensive. Nine daily and At the gala, other awards were pre- weekly newspapers, a weekly magazine, sented for the best player (Alexandru NORTHERN a comprehensive annual publication, 11 Epureanu, FC Moscow,), best futsal player IRELAND radio and TV stations and four websites (Alexei Muntean, FC Dinamo Chisinau), are testimony to this. best woman player (Sanda Gutu, FC Roma IFA Flybe ‘’ The Public Relations and Publications Puhaceni), best team (FC Dacia Chisinau) Committee of the Malta FA, set up specif- and best referee (Veaceslav Banari). Excellence Programme ically to further promote the association’s The ceremony continued by designat- The IFA county excellence programme, image, is aware of this input by the ing the best goalkeeper of the national sponsored by Flybe and supported by the Maltese sports media, and is constantly championship (Nicolae Calancea, FC George Best Foundation, has just com- engaged in maintaining good relations Zimbru Chisinau), the best defender menced the second twelve-week period with the journalists. (Vazha Tarnishvili, FC Sheriff), best mid- of its second year. The programme, which Press conferences, seminars and social fielder (Nicolae Josan, FC Iskra Stali), best covers all six counties, delivers a compre- events involving the media are regular forward (Igor Picusciac, FC ), and hensive technical development pro- activities on the Malta FA’s calendar. More- best goal-getter (Aleksei Kuciuk, FC gramme for boys and girls aged between over, the association’s weekly TV pro- Sheriff). FC Sheriff Tiraspol took the 2007 11 and 16. The current strategy is to pro- gramme, meant to complement pro- fair play award. Sergiu Caraman received vide young boys and girls in the province grammes on other stations of the same the youth coach award, while the Ukrain- with a player pathway to international genre, has a formative element as its main ian Oleksandr Derik (FC Dinamo Chisinau) football leading to a possible career in pro- raison d’être, and is hence meant as a tool was presented with the futsal coach fessional football. to maintain good public relations. award and Vladimir Colbasiuc with the Further proof of this healthy relation- futsal referee of the year award. ship is the Maltese association’s practice Viorel Frunza (FC Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, of allowing journalists to be present as Romania) won the people’s football per- observers during the working sessions of sonality of the year award from the Sport its council. Courier newspaper, Serghei Stroenco (FC Alex Vella Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol) the “Loyalty Award”

awarded by the Meridian Sport publica - IFA tion and, for his crucial goal against Bosnia- One of the county teams. Herzegovina, the Vremea news paper honoured Igo Bugaiov (FC Chernomorets MOLDOVA Coaching sessions take place on a Odessa, Ukraine). weekly basis in each of the six counties. This year, the FA of Moldova also Four 90-minute sessions take place for introduced some new awards: “Most Gala for laureates U12 (1996) U13 (1995) U14 (1994) and Valuable Grassroots Football Event 2007”, of Moldovan football U15 (1993) boys. Two one-hour sessions won by FC Gloria Edinet; “Best Disabled Igor Dobrovolskiy, head coach of take place for U14/U16 girls. In these ses- Football Event 2007”, awarded to the Moldova’s national team, received the sions players follow a structured curricu- national Special Olympics Team which coach of the year award for 2007 at the lum which includes technical, tactical, won bronze at the Special Olympics World laureates’ gala held on 21 December – a physical and mental topics. Over 600 boys Games in Shanghai last year; “Best traditional celebration when the FA of and 200 girls currently participate. Veterans Football Event 2007”, (FC Maiak Moldova recognises the outstanding foot- Inter-county games were arranged for Chirsova); “Best Futsal Event 2007” ball personalities of the year. U14 (1994) and U15 boys (1993) prior to (FC Camelot Chisinau); and, finally, “Best Dobrovolskiy took up the function of the Christmas break in order for the Women’s Football Event 2007” (Igor head coach on 22 December 2006, at a Northern Ireland U15 international man- Spaniora, FC Gloria Edinet) in recognition time when the national team was bottom ager, John McCormack, to assess players and appreciation of the work under- of Group C in the EURO 2008 qualifying for selection for the Tri Nation’s competi- taken for the development of women’s competition. Under his leadership, our tion in March against Wales and the football. players managed to win 11 points from Republic of Ireland. A squad of 36 players The general sponsor of the FA of only the next eight qualifiers, thereby put- will be selected to participate in the com- Moldova, the Rusnac company, also pre- ting Moldova in fifth place out of seven petition, which is due to take place in sented special awards to Radu Rebeja, teams. In their last four matches, Moldova this year. Further county games captain of the national team, to Igor Do- achieved ten points, beating Bosnia-Herze- took place between Londonderry and brovolskiy, and to Pavel Cebanu, president govina, Malta as well as Hungary, and Antrim, Tyrone and Fermanagh, Down of the FA of Moldova. drawing against Turkey. and Antrim, and Tyrone and Armagh dur- Victor Daghi On 21 October, Dobrovolskiy renewed ing which players were assessed. From this his contract with the FA of Moldova for year’s Northern Ireland U16 Victory Shield another two years. At 40 years of age, he campaign, in which the team drew 2-2 has enjoyed an impressive football career. with England in Blackpool and beat Wales He played for FC Nistru Chisinau, then 1-0 in Aberystwyth, all the players in the went on to play for FC Dinamo Moscow, squad had participated in the County Castellon and Atletico Madrid, Servette, Excellence Programme, an indication that Genoa, Olympique Marseille and Fortuna the networking of players in each county Düsseldorf. As part of the USSR national is a success. team, he won a gold medal at the Seoul The county coaches are heavily involved Olympics in 1988 (6 matches, 6 goals). in the youth international set-up. County With the same team, he also took part Armagh and Down’s Steven Millar and

in the 1990 World Cup, after which he FMF Raymond Alexander are currently involved represented the CIS at EURO ‘92 and Rus- Pavel Cebanu (left), President of the Moldovan in coaching the national U15 side which sia at EURO ‘96. FA, presents Igor Dobrovolskiy with his award. is participating in the Tri Nations compe-

20 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 21

EWS from member associationsN FAI tition. County Tyrone’s Paul Kee has been Michel Platini cuts the ribbon alongside involved with the U16 Victory Shield side, REPUBLIC Dan Flinter (on his right). and County Fermanagh’s Christophe OF IRELAND 2 Moulin is assistant to U17 manager Kenny The 3,000m building on the 350 acre site at Abbotstown will house the FAI’s Shiels. The U17s qualified for the elite New FAI headquarters stage of the European Championships in 167 staff as well as organisations such as Belgium, beating Moldova, Montenegro officially opened the Professional Footballers Association of and Belgium. In January, a development Last month, of Ireland, the Irish Soccer Referees’ Society, squad of 16 players will selected at U13 Ireland (FAI) moved to its new headquar- the Leinster Football Association, the level (1995 boys) to participate in a tour- ters at the national sports campus in Ab- Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland nament in the south of France. Led by botstown after over half a century at 80 and the Dublin & District Schoolboys County Antrim’s Pascal Vaudequin, the Merrion Square, Dublin. The association’s League. squad will consist of players from all six 167 staff will be based at the new facility, FIFA, the governing body of world foot- counties. which was officially opened on Wednes- ball, contributed USD 400,000 to the fit- Caroline Menary day, 5 December by Seamus Brennan, TD, out costs of the building from its Goal Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, with funding assistance programme, while Eu- Michel Platini, President of UEFA. ropean football’s governing body, UEFA, The general secretary of UEFA, David contributed CHF 400,000 under the Hat- POLAND Taylor, and the chairman of the national Trick investment programme. sports campus, Dan Flinter, were among The opening of the new headquarters those in attendance at the opening cere- completes the first phase of the FAI’s Year of successes – mony. national sports campus project. year of challenges The FAI is the first national governing The second phase of the association’s We wish that the year 2007 was not body to take up residence at the national facility will be the construction of a national academy with seven training yet over. The last 12 months were indeed sports campus, and will be joined in 2008 pitches. The FAI is currently recruiting for very successful for Polish football. Fans of by the Irish Institute of Sport. It is envisaged an International Performance Director to the “white-reds” national team had a lot that the national sports campus will even- tually be home to as many national gov- oversee the academy. of reasons to be excited and emotional, Fran Whearty and a lot of victories to celebrate. erning sports bodies as possible. First of all, became euphoric in April after Michel Platini, the UEFA presi- dent, announced that Poland and Ukraine functional characteristics of young foot- would be hosting EURO 2012. We can ballers (born in 1992 and 1993). In April, hardly wait for this great event and the SAN MARINO these tests were followed by a series of possibility to invite fans from all parts of play assessments, conducted during our continent. experimental matches and championship The next cause for celebration was pro- Youth football research matches, to determine the demands of vided by the Polish national team which, On 21 November 2006, with the playing football at youth level. During this for the first time in the history of our foot- approval of its executive committee, the phase, GPS movement detectors were ball, qualified for the European Champi- San Marino Football Association created a attached to the players to determine onship final round. The team, led by Leo research department specifically to con- speed, acceleration and movement time. Beenhakker, finished top of a very difficult duct research connected with youth foot- In each match, each player’s heart rate qualifying group, beating, among others, ball. The importance of this initiative was was also measured, as was the motion Portugal, the current vice-champions of twofold: first, to make a scientific-cultural of bodily fluids and perceived effort. In Europe. contribution based on the experimental addition, the environmental conditions, Whereas last year was full of successes, phase of the research and, secondly, to the temperature and the humidity level the year 2008 will be the one of chal- enhance the image of our association. were closely monitored. lenges. We hope that the Polish national The research work was organised fol- At the end of last year, the research team will fulfil the expectations of their lowing a series of preliminary meetings department tackled another subject, that fans and do well in EURO 2008. The held from November 2006 to define the of the contribution that applied science months ahead will also see an accelera- type of research, the material, the means could make to football. A “Soccer Engi- tion of preparatory work for EURO 2012. and the collaboration that would be use- neering” project was launched by which Poles like challenges and now it is time to ful in the implementation of the project. software can be developed to optimise tackle some of them. The meetings also identified the need to choices on the field of play and, therefore, Michal Kocieba / Bartek Marks conduct a series of analyses to establish a player selection, by experimenting with functional model of youth football activ- repetitive activities, zone occupation and ity, since, at international level, scientific difficulty factors. Consequently, it is not work in this field is virtually non-existent just a question of compiling statistics, but to date. In particular, the need was iden- of analysing them in order to assess and tified to pursue the following objectives: grade footballers. ■ establish the influence of physical In another initiative, using confirmed fitness on playing performance; and published studies, the research ■ analyse youth football activity; department has examined the following ■ develop useful strategies for opti- areas in greater depth: tactical and tech- mising match preparation procedures; nical, athletic and preventive. The princi- With nine goals to ■ develop useful strategies for opti- ples applied concern the variation of his name, mising coaching. the position of the centre of gravity and played a key role in Poland’s qualification Starting last February, a series of have already been tested on goalkeepers for EURO 2008. assessments were undertaken, using tests when diving. PZPN to evaluate resistance, to define the Prof. Emilio Cecchini

21 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 22

EWS from member associationsN

Miroslav Djukic, Serbia’s coach of the year.

➜ FAS

SERBIA Two of the biggest clubs, Crvena zvez- UKRAINE da and Partizan, now have the youngest coaches in their history. Crvena zvezda Trust in young coaches coach Aleksandar Jankovic is 35 and FFU brings football Something new happened in Serbian Partizan’s Slavisa Jokanovic is 39. Both are to every school football at the end of 2007. In the last former players and this is the first coach- While concentrating mainly on prepar- week of December, the FA of Serbia, FK ing job for both. ing to stage EURO 2012, the Football Fed- Crvena zvezda and FK Partizan all named This is something really new and un- eration of Ukraine (FFU) is not neglecting new coaches. Maybe it is a coincidence usual in Serbia. In the last decade, the same its other programmes, one of the most im- that the three most important domestic coaches moved around and took care of portant of which is supporting football in football structures decided to change lead- the top Serbian clubs. Now, having com- secondary schools. A four-day seminar on ers almost on the same day, but what is far pleted their UEFA-approved coach educa- “Perspectives on the development of more important is the fact that the new tion with the Serbian FA, a new generation school football”, held at the FFU head- coaches are the youngest ever! of qualified coaches have come onto the quarters in Kiev, underpinned the impor- Miroslav Djukic, former national Under- scene and are breathing fresh life into tance attached to this programme. 21 head coach and coach of Partizan in domestic football. “Nowadays, mass school football devel- 2007, swaps benches to become the head On this development, Zvezdan Terzic, opment is one of the priorities not only coach of the Serbian national team for the president of the FA of Serbia, said: “I am very for the FFU, but UEFA as well, since it is next two years. Only one person in his - glad because young coaches are taking on regarded as a fundament of a pyramid: tory has been younger than Djukic in that roles at the top level in Serbian football. They mass football − elite youth football − profes - position – Dejan Savicevic, who started at have a new and modern approach to the sional football,” 36. Djukic is 41. game and I expect that our national team said Grigoriy Sur- One week before his appointment, and our clubs will play much better. This is kis, president of Djukic was named Serbian coach of the a brave decision, but it is only in this way that the FFU. “School year. After only one year of coaching work, we can be better. Also, our coaching school football has a Djukic achieved second place in the Euro- produces new coaches and proves that powerful influ- pean Under-21 Championship final round education is the best way to success.” ence on develop- in the Netherlands. Aleksandar Boskovic ing a healthy lifestyle among children. For ex- If these winter competitions prove to be ample, this year successful, both the women’s and futsal [in 2007] 60,000 SLOVENIA committees plan to introduce a proper pupils took part women’s futsal competition played by ded- in the national Larysa icated players throughout the whole year. Leather Ball Cup Mokrynska Introducing women’s futsal Uros Stanic (for boys and girls won the The growth of both futsal and women’s aged 10 to 13) prize for and 400,000 chil- the best football, and the need for women players football to stay in shape during the winter break, dren from the

lesson. FFU all suggested to the women’s and futsal countryside par- committees of the Slovenian Football SWITZERLAND ticipated in the “Let’s bring joy to kids!” foot- Association that they should join forces to ball festival. At the ‘almost professional’ find a solution. level, five intra-regional child-youth football In the past, women’s football clubs used Child and youth protection development centres and a child-youth foot- to organise futsal tournaments now and work continues ball league (for 14 to17 year-olds) have then and on their own, but now, for the first Since 1999, the Swiss Football Associa- being going for many years.” time in the history of Slovenian football, tion (SFV) has been sending out regular However, very special attention is placed women’s futsal is being played by official information about “Child and Youth Pro- on the FFU’s project of a school lesson with futsal rules and with futsal referees. The tection in Football”. For their sports activ- football elements. In 2001, the FFU con- competition is being held during the winter ities, children and young people are cluded an agreement with the Ministry break and takes the form of preliminaries entrusted to adult leaders and, in this of Education and Science regarding the and a final tournament in various catego- respect, the well-being of the youngsters implementation of a third weekly PE lesson ries. The 11 Under-13, 15 Under-17 and 17 in their care is the top priority. with football elements. Today, all schools in senior women’s teams are split into eastern In a new initiative in this area, the SFV the country have built it into their curricu- and western groups, with the winners and is targeting football clubs with the third lums. In return, the FFU is helping with runners-up contesting the finals. edition of the “Child and Youth Protection financial, technical and methodical support. in Football” booklet, a poster, as well as a Since 2001, it has provided schools with one code of honour for coaches to sign. The million leather balls. In addition, 800 mini- SFV is not just tackling sexual exploitation pitches have built across the country. And but also emotional and physical abuse this work continues. in sport. The FFU is also supporting the most In 2005, the SFV launched a nationwide talented teachers. More than 32,000 have campaign for clubs to sign up to the ini- attended special courses. Every year, a tiative. To date, 149 clubs throughout national contest for the teacher of the best Switzerland have responded. With this football lesson is held. Last year, first prize fresh drive, the SFV hopes to reawaken the was awarded to a woman for the first time

NZS interest, support and positive response of – Larysa Mokrynska, from the small town Women’s futsal might soon be played the clubs and their coaches. of Volodarka near Kiev. all year around. Pierre Benoit Igor Linnyk

22 uefadirect 2.08 UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 23 UEFA

Notices

■ Mathieu Sprengers was Communications re-elected president of the Dutch Birthdays – Calendar FA in December. ■ Iljo Dominkovic is the new president of the Football Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. ■ Kimmo J. Lipponen became Birthdays ● Eggert Magnusson (Iceland, 20.2) ● João F. De Magalhães Marques (Portugal, 20.2) general secretary of the Finnish FA ● Carlos Godinho (Portugal, 21.2) on 1 January. Fino Fini (Italy), a member of the circle of ● Fernando Gomes (Portugal, 21.2) former UEFA committee members, will be 80 ● Asim Khudiyev (Azerbaijan, 22.2) New match agents on 9 February. On 21 February, Ralph Zloczower ● Holger Hieronymus (Germany, 22.2) (Switzerland), vice-chairman of the Media ● Vladimir Sajn (Slovenia, 22.2) Committee, will be 75. Technical instructor ● Maarten Fontein (Netherlands, 23.2) Match agent licences have been Peter Bonde (Denmark) celebrates his 50th birth - ● Peter Jones (England, 24.2) awarded to: day on 14 February, as does referee observer ● Juan Padron Morales (Spain, 25.2) Hervé Cros Miroslav Radoman (Serbia) on 25 February. ● Manfred Amerell (Germany, 25.2) Other leading members of the European ● Jens Erik Magnussen (Faroe Islands, 25.2) 22, rue Louise Michel football family celebrating their birthdays in ● Egidius Braun (Germany, 27.2) 69800 Saint-Pries, France February are: ● Allan Hansen (Denmark, 27.2) Mobile: +33 6 63 92 54 71 ● (Germany, 1.2) ● Xavier Lebray (France, 27.2) [email protected] ● Karen Espelund (Norway, 1.2) ● Zorislav Srebric (Croatia, 28.2) ● Kyros Vassaras (Greece, 1.2) ● (Italy, 28.2) Pierre Inquel ● Leonardus van der Kroft (Netherlands, 2.2) ● (Germany, 28.2) Sport Global Management ● Trygve Bornø (Norway, 2.2) ● John Beattie (England, 28.2) Elysée Bureau ● Mark Blackbourne (England, 3.2) 66, avenue des Champs-Elysées ● Nikolaos Zamboglou (Cyprus, 5.2) Forthcoming events ● Vaclav Krondl (Czech Republic, 5.2) 75008 , France ● Gabriel Weiss (Slovakia, 6.2) Tel.: +33 6 75 20 42 70 ● Erich Rutemöller (Germany, 8.2) Meetings Fax: +33 1 70 24 83 98 ● Yusuf Namoglu (Turkey, 8.2) 3-8.2.2008, Cyprus [email protected] ● Alexander Slutski (Belarus, 9.2) Referees course ● Donald McVicar (Scotland, 9.2) Kostas Syriopoulos 25.2.2008, Nyon Hectorstraat 5-H ● Danilo Filacchione (Italy, 9.2) Fair Play and Social Responsibility Committee ● Zoran Lakovic (Serbia, 9.2) Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee 1076 PM Amsterdam, Netherlands ● Luc Rabat (France, 10.2) Tel.: +31 6 10 40 28 45 ● Dani Koren (Israel, 10.2) 26.2.2008 à Nyon ● William McDougall (Scotland, 11.2) Youth and Amateur Football Committee Meanwhile, Mikael Linder (Sweden) ● Borislav Mihaylov (Bulgaria, 12.2) Players’ Status, Transfer and Agents and Match has had his licence renewed. ● Oleksandr Bandurko (Ukraine, 13.2) Agents Committee ● (Italy, 13.2) Draws for the preliminary and intermediate ● Heinz-Herbert Kreh (Germany, 14.2) rounds of the 2008/09 UEFA Regions’ Cup New publication ● (Germany, 14.2) 27.2.2008, Nyon ● Marinus den Engelsman (Netherlands, 14.2) Club Licensing Committee Historia e Kampionateve ● Manuel Lopez Fernandez (Spain, 14.2) Club Competitions Committee te Shqiperise ● Georges Konrath (France, 15.2) 28.2.2008, Nyon This is the fifth volume of Besnik ● John McBeth (Scotland, 15.2) Women’s Football Committee ● Susanne Erlandsson (Sweden, 15.2) Football Committee Dizdari’s history of the Albanian cham- ● Athanassios Machairas (Greece, 15.2) pionship. The latest ● Katriina Elovirta (Finland, 15.2) 29.2.2008, Nyon Media Committee volume in the series covers ● Svitlana Shkil (Ukraine, 15.2) the 1955 to 1959 period ● Adalbert Kassai (Romania, 16.2) Marketing Advisory Committee ● Gudrun Inga Sivertsen (Sweden, 17.2) and, although it is written ● Jozef Venglos (Slovakia, 18.2) Competitions in Albanian, the photos ● Borislav Alexandrov (Bulgaria, 18.2) 13-14.2.2008 and detailed statistics ● Flemming Serritslev (Denmark, 18.2) UEFA Cup: Round of 32 (first legs) (going back to 1930) are ● Patrick Kelly (Republic of Ireland, 18.2) within the reach of any- ● 19-20.2.2008 Pertti Alaja (Finland, 18.2) one wishing to find out ● (Sweden, 18.2) UEFA Champions League: First knockout round ● Jaroslav Vacek (Czech Republic, 19,2) (first legs) more about Albanian football. ● Janis Mezeckis (Latvia, 19.2) 21.2.2008 (Published by Rozafa. ● Lars Arnesson (Sweden, 20.2) UEFA Cup: Round of 32 (return legs) [email protected])

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 Division Editorial deadline: 16 January 2008 source is indicated. UEFAdirect-70-Fe?vrier•E:Anglais 22.1.2008 9:26 Page 24

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

Top View