No 44 – December 2005 qualifiers World Cup launched TEP programme short list EURO 2012 in Nyon secretaries meet General short list EURO 2012 in Nyon secretaries meet General qualifiers World Cup launched TEP programme 12.0 5 05 03 05 03 14 12 14 12 Supplement COVER IN THIS ISSUE Eleven questions for Per Ravn Omdal 09 The UEFA Champions League group Women’s Football Conference 10 matches are reaching their conclusion. Top Executive Programme 03 The contest is particularly close General secretaries meet in Nyon 12 World Cup qualifiers 05 in Group E, which includes Schalke 04 EURO 2012 in the spotlight 14 (Mladen Krstajic, in blue) and Fenerbahce (Luciano). Draw in 08 News from member associations 16 PHOTO: KOEPSEL/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES

From oneEditorial anniversary to another

Following on from its golden jubilee celebrations last year, UEFA is presently commemorating 50 years of European club competitions. As an oppor- tunity to pay tribute to the founders of our organisation and of its competitions, these celebrations recall the early days of UEFA and the launch of what were to become its most prestigious competitions: the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (UEFA Champions League) and the European Football Championship. 2005 also marks another anniver- sary, that of a ruling which shook European football: in December 1995, the Euro- pean Court of Justice issued its verdict in the Bosman case and put an end not only to the transfer system in place at that time, but also to the limitation on the number of foreign players, in the name of the free movement of workers within the European Union. The Bosman ruling is certainly not the cause of all the evils afflicting European football but it did away with safeguards that the game’s leaders had established quite consciously, not to raise football above EU legislation, but to preserve the special nature of the game and to prevent exploitation. Since then, transfers have mushroomed and the masses of money flowing into the game have accentuated this tendency, gradually depriving clubs of their local identity. Some astute clubs have taken advantage of this enlargement of the market to reach unprecedented heights, but they are in a minority. Generally speaking, the gap between the rich and the less well-off has widened, a phenomenon which can be nothing but detrimental on the competi- tions, making them less interesting. There is no point in calling the Bosman ruing into question; it would be a waste of time to do so. What matters is learning from the past and from the Bosman ruling and, as a result, maintaining close dialogue with the Euro- pean Union in order to be able to convince its leaders of the special nature of our game and of the challenges issues facing it. Such dialogue is already on the right track, but if football’s arguments are to be clearly heard and under- stood, then it has to speak with one voice – like in favour of the training and protection of youth players. A united stand is a persuasive force.

Lars-Christer Olsson Chief Executive

Football development

is an absolute priority. EMPICS/UEFA we care about football

02 uefadirect 12.05 Top ExecutiveA need Programmefor change

UEFA deliberately opted for an informal atmosphere. UEFA

UEFA’S NEW TOP EXECUTIVE PROGRAMME (TEP) IS DESIGNED round tables and subsequent proj-

TO STRENGTHEN THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND IMPROVE ects and courses. Projects will be based on the outcome of these dis- THEIR ABILITY TO ACT. THE PROJECT SWUNG INTO ACTION cussions and will be repeated regu- WITH AN INITIAL SERIES OF ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSIONS NEAR GENEVA. larly on a cyclical basis. In order to launch this The Top Executive Programme tions division. One important pillar dynamic process, UEFA invited the aims to help the associations in their of the programme is the exchange of presidents and general secretaries role as decision-makers and the gov- information. Using a database, round- of five associations with similar erning bodies of football in their own table discussions, personal consulta- needs to the first of three series of country. UEFA decided to create the tions and further training courses, the round tables in October and Novem- programme because of changes in the aim is to set in motion a dynamic ber. In order to ensure the talks European football landscape in recent process which will benefit all parties: were as open and interactive as pos- years. “European clubs and leagues if the associations’ top executives can sible, UEFA deliberately described have become more professional. We clearly explain the needs of their or- the meetings as informal, with no must gain some respect. Our member ganisation, middle managers will also reports, presentations or dress associations need to be able to make be in a better position to do their jobs. code. It also emphasised that, al- decisions and their authority must though the TEP had been launched no longer be challenged,” said Geoffrey A dynamic process at UEFA’s initiative, the associations Thompson, a UEFA vice-president and So what are the needs of the would play an essential role in shap- chairman of the Executive Committee’s national associations? The UEFA Ad- ing the programme. “There is huge National Associations working group. ministration visited 27 medium-sized potential here, but our mutual The TEP is coordinated by the associations in order to gather the success depends on your partici- recently created UEFA National Associa- necessary information and to plan the pation in these discussions,” said

03 Active The discussions. UEFA Chief Executive, Lars-Christer Olsson, opens the round table.

UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer effective marketing strategy, an asso- Olsson at the opening of the discus- ciation can kill two birds with one sions. “We are here to assist you, stone by increasing its income at the but ultimately you will have to solve same time as reducing its costs. the problems yourselves”. Associations which have ad- A clear separation of tasks, duties ditional financial resources find it and responsibilities is essential.“ Potential for improvement easier to pursue a second important The presidents and general After this opening message, objective: youth development. For secretaries in attendance agreed. the presidents and general secretaries example, they can invest in national One president thought that the were asked to list their most pressing youth academies and other develop- associations were not professional needs, i.e. the areas in which they ment programmes, which have long- enough and lacked the necessary would like support or advice. These term benefits for the senior national expertise to keep up with the pro- were then divided into categories in team. Then, if the national team is fessional leagues. The current com- which they could be tackled. successful, more money becomes mittee structures were also consid- One area in which the national available for football development. ered to be a hindrance. Everyone associations definitely want and have agreed on one thing: the necessary to improve is marketing. With an Internal organisation resources were lacking and outside Internal organisation, another help was needed. Clear progress core aspect of the TEP, was recog- had been made in areas in which in- nised as being essential to an associ- vestment had been possible thanks ation’s ability to perform better. The to state subsidies or the UEFA round table began by looking at this HatTrick programme. The top exec- subject. The UEFA Chief Executive utives were therefore very grateful referred to the success of UEFA’s for UEFA’s support and praised the internal reorganisation as part of the mini-pitch project in particular. FORCE project in 2000 and said that this was a recipe for success that the First step taken associations could follow: “You Many associations have a shouldn’t think: I’ve never done this long way to go in order to achieve The needs of the associations were noted… before, so why should I start now? the goal of becoming more profes- sional and efficient, with numerous ... then shared. courses and consultations ahead of them. However, feedback on the launch of the TEP has been very positive, which augurs well. It should be remembered that this is a brand- new programme, which the associa- tions will take a while to get used to. However, everyone agrees that fundamental changes are required. Lars-Christer Olsson summed it up perfectly: “We cannot change the balance of power just by amend- ing our statutes. We need to recog- nise our own qualities as a means for us to compete, and put them

PHOTOS: UEFA PHOTOS: into practice!”

04 uefadirect 12.05 (goalkeeper Holland and Oleksander Shovkovski the Czech Republic and defender have met Serhiy Fedorov) were the several times in first team to qualify. recent years. SHLAMOV/APF/GETTY IMAGES SHLAMOV/APF/GETTY KLAMAR/APF/GETTY IMAGES 2006 FIFA World Cup A first and several expected qualifications

TEN EUROPEAN NATIONAL TEAMS HAD ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR THE WORLD CUP BY THE END OF THE GROUP PHASE,

WHILE THE OTHER SIX HAVE BEEN CONTESTING THE PLAY-OFFS FOR THE THREE REMAINING PLACES.

It was a tense struggle in Ukraine, managed by the great former dynamic group. The 2002 World almost every group, the outcome re- striker , who also won the Cup “bronze medallists”, who bene- maining undecided until the very end. Ballon d’Or in 1975, have qualified for fited greatly from Fatih Terim’s In the run-up to the draw to be held in a major final tournament for the first return to the dugout in spring 2005, Leipzig on 9 December, we look back time in their history. In fact they were pipped Denmark and reigning Euro- at nearly 18 months of this exciting the first European nation to secure pean champions Greece at the post. qualifying competition. a berth in the current finals, on 3 Sep- tember. Blokhin had been Pauleta’s record A successful start for obliged to resign tem- Portugal, the EURO 2004 Marco van Basten porarily from his post hosts and runners-up, were streets The Netherlands finished way as national coach, hav- ahead of the rest in Group 3. De- ahead of the Czech Repub- ing been elected mem- spite an unexpectedly tough time lic, beating them twice. ber of parlia- against Liechtenstein, with a Since they had previously met the Czechs in the EURO 2000 final round and in the qualifiers and finals for EURO 2004, this was a team ment in draw in the that the Dutch knew well. As a former March and being principality and a 2-1 vic- top-class striker who brilliantly com- forbidden under tory at home, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s bined elegance and effectiveness, Ukrainian law men fulfilled their attacking poten- Marco van Basten seems to have be- to perform any tial. With a tally of 35 goals, they queathed the same qualities to the other duties. A share the distinction with the Czech squad which has been in his care since few days later, Republic of having the most prolific the end of the last European Champi- however, a front line in Europe. Surpassing onship. While relying on several mem- court autho- Figo, Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo, bers of the “old guard” (Van der Sar, rised him to the star of this qualifying campaign Cocu, Van Nistelrooy), the new manager resume his post was surely Pedro Pauleta, who has not hesitated to bring a number of on condition notched an unmatched 11-goal talented youngsters into the fray. The that he was not total. To top it all, the Paris Saint- Netherlands have been impressive as paid. Behind the Germain striker has become Portu- well as victorious. In qualifying for the swift and well-or- gal’s all-time leading scorer, beating play-offs, the Czechs also lost in Ro- ganised Ukrainian the legendary Eusebio’s record of mania but secured maximum points team, Turkey 42 goals. against the other teams in the group claimed the run- The battle for second place (Finland, FYR Macedonia, Armenia and ners-up spot in this was very tight. It culminated in a Andorra). The Romanians paid dearly major upset, with Slovakia finishing for their draw in Armenia. ahead of Russia on goal difference. Pauleta, top scorer in the European qualifying A first for Ukraine competition.

Winner of the Ballon d’Or (Euro- GETTY IMAGES pean Footballer of the Year) award in 2004, Andryi Shevchenko will finally be appearing in the World Cup finals:

05 Shaun Wright Italy Spain (England, No. 7) (Francesco (Carlos Puyol) and Mariusz Totti) had to leave Lewandowski overcame the last word (Poland) have all the to Serbia and both helped obstacles. Montenegro their respective (Mateja Kezman, teams through No. 8). to the finals. GETTY IMAGES IMAGES HERTZOG/AFP/GETTY GETTY IMAGES

Despite a lack of big-name players team should be reaching a peak England silence the critics in his squad, coach Dusan Galis was at the time of EURO 2008, which Despite a historic defeat able to field a strong and determined Switzerland will be co-hosting with by Northern Ireland, for which coach team. Austria. Despite being unbeaten like Sven-Göran Eriksson was heavily France and Switzerland, Israel were criticised, England won their group Three teams unbeaten still eliminated, resulting in the thanks to two victories against their Right up to the last day, four resignation of coach Avraham Grant. main rivals, Poland. The English teams – France, Switzerland, Israel side appears competitive in all areas and the Republic of Ireland – were No worries for Italy of the field, even if there seem to still battling it out for one of the first Italy qualified without any be few alternatives up front to the two places. Eleven of the 12 matches great difficulty. After enjoying success pairing of Owen and Rooney. between these four teams ended as the coach of Juventus, Marcello Poland finished as one of as draws! France were the only team Lippi took over from Giovanni Trapat- the best runners-up, winning all to win in Ireland and consequently toni at the helm of the “Squadra their fixtures apart from the defeats topped the group. The return to Azzurra” after EURO 2004. by England, and thus booked a the line-up of Zidane, Thuram and Even though the stalwarts of finals berth in Germany, where they Makelele paid dividends. Even so, the team – Buffon, Nesta, Zambrotta shone in the 1974 World Cup, despite the presence of Henry and and Totti – are still there, the coach finishing third. In 2006 they will Trezeguet, two of the world’s most also brought in a large number of feature one of the most prolific and prolific strikers, Raymond Dome- newcomers, the biggest impact being well-matched attacking duos in nech’s men scored only 14 goals in made by Iaquinta, Gilardino and Europe: Zurawski and Frankowski the qualifiers, the lowest total above all Toni in what was already a put the ball in the opponents’ net a among the teams which qualified particularly strong attack. total of 14 times (seven goals each). automatically. Despite a couple of slip-ups, In third position and some way Switzerland, in second Norway easily secured the runners-up behind the top two, Austria bade place, have continued to make good spot. However, even with the strike farewell to Hans Krankl and will progress. With striker Frei and skip- force of Carew and Iversen, they replace him on 1 January with Josef per Vogel forming the nucleus of the scored only 12 goals, the lowest tally Hickersberger. They will have to team, they have a highly promising of all 16 top-two finishers in the make considerable progress to be younger generation of players. The eight groups. competitive in EURO 2008, which they will be co-hosting in two-and- a-half years’ time. By beating the Republic of Ireland, France (Thierry Henry) An iron defence took a crucial step closer Serbia and Montenegro cre- to qualifying. ated a real upset in finishing above Spain. Although the side has no real international stars apart from Stankovic and Kezman, the experi- enced Ilija Petkovic has succeeded in creating a team spirit which is second to none. Success has been built from the back, with the most water-tight defence of all 51 Euro- pean competitors. In combining goalkeeper Jevric with Dragutinovic and Gavrancic on the flanks and Vidic and Krstajic in the middle – five men who always train together – the coach conceded just one goal in the whole qualifying campaign. Only Spanish marksman Raul was

FLASH PRESS able to breach this defensive barrier.

06 uefadirect 12.05 The Ukrainian A close Under-21 team contest (Grygoriy between the Yarmash, No. 15, Under-21s against Belgium's of England Maarten Martens) and France. have imitated their seniors and qualified for the final round. GETTY IMAGES PHOTO NEWS PHOTO Under-21 Championship Italy set to defend their title STRINGER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES PENDING ITS IMMINENT EMANCIPATION, THE EUROPEAN UNDER-21 Croatia (Dado Prso, No. 9) and Sweden (Teddy Lucic) are on their way to Germany next year. CHAMPIONSHIP – OR RATHER ITS QUALIFYING COMPETITION – IS STILL MORE OR LESS A CARBON COPY OF THE SENIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP AS FAR This was not enough, AS THE CURRENT COMPETITION IS CONCERNED, THE KEY DIFFERENCE BEING THAT however, for Luis Aragones’ side. Despite being unbeaten, the Spani- THE GROUP-WINNERS DO NOT QUALIFY DIRECTLY FOR THE FINAL ROUND BUT ards ended up in second place, hav- HAVE TO CONTEST PLAY-OFFS AGAINST THE GROUP RUNNERS-UP. ing one more draw to their name than Serbia and Montenegro. The The outcome is not always gary 1-0 at home, following a draw a foregone conclusion and the group- in the first leg; Germany won both legs team of Raul, Fernando Torres, winners sometimes stumble at the final of its their against the Czech Republic; Vicente, Salgado and Casillas had to hurdle, as was the fate of Croatia France won their return leg against settle for the play-offs, an objective and Belgium this time round, elim- England, having drawn with them that was beyond Belgium, who were inated by Serbia and Montenegro away; Denmark notched up two overtaken by Bosnia and Herzegov- and Ukraine respectively. wins against Russia; and the Nether- ina. The “Red Devils” will be absent Belgium had got that far lands built on a draw in the first from the World Cup finals after six without losing a single match in leg of their tie against Slovenia to successive appearances. their group, a feat shared with Germany qualify in front of their home crowd. and even bettered by Portugal, who Of the eight finalists in 2004, The dynamic duo won all ten of their qualifying matches. only four will be taking part in the Despite three draws, includ- In the play-offs, the Portuguese had final round in 2006: Italy and Serbia a rough ride against Switzerland, and Montenegro, who went as far as ing one against Malta, Croatia, the achieving a satisfactory 1-1 draw away the final in 2004, plus Portugal and third-placed team in the 1998 World in the first leg, only to then have to Germany. Cup, came top of their group. suffer until the second half of the return The Executive Committee The side coached by Zlatko Kranjcar, leg before equalising and eventually will decide on the tournament hosts who succeeded Otto Baric after winning the tie 2-1. at its meeting in December, and the EURO 2004, helped to decide the The other group-winners also draw for the final round will be made outcome through two 1-0 victories qualified for the finals. Italy beat Hun- on 8 February. over Sweden, with Srna scoring on both occasions. The other outstanding players in the European delegation complete Balkan line-up were striker Prso, the The Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland have completed Europe’s Kovac brothers and the young Nico World Cup line-up via the play-offs played on 12 and 16 November. Kranjcar, the son of the coach. The Czech Republic, who had Apart from their double Pavel Nedved back in the team for both Pavel Nedved legs, eliminated Norway. Having gone dodges setback against Croatia, Sweden won two Norwegian into the second leg with a very strong

players. GETTY IMAGES all their matches, thereby securing 1-0 advantage from the first leg away, one of the two best runners-up the Czechs confirmed their qualification places. After EURO 2004, the coach- by achieving the same result at home. ing partnership of Tommy Söderberg Spain also made a serious impact and Lars Lagerbäck came to an in the first leg of their tie against Slova- end, leaving the latter in sole con- kia, beating them 5-1 at home and leav- trol. The Juventus striker Ibrahimovic ing the Slovaks with little hope for the was the team’s top scorer during return leg in Slovakia, which finished 1-1. Having only just missed out on the qualifying round, finding the direct qualification, Switzerland contin- net eight times, once more than ued their unbeaten run in the qualifiers by beating Turkey 2-0 in Bern. the other star performer, Arsenal’s Despite getting off to a perfect start in the return leg in Istanbul by convert- attacking midfielder Ljungberg. ing a penalty in the first few minutes, the Swiss were then left to fret until the very end, qualifying thanks to the away-goals rule at the end of a Emanuele Saraceno match which they lost 4-2.

07 A glittering Exempt from setting for the qualifiers, the draw in Germany are Leipzig. using friendly matches to prepare, like this match against France in November. DFB

Final-round LANG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES hall can only accommodate approxi- mately 4,000 people, including some 1,300 accredited media representa- draw in Leipzig tives. Two-thirds of the journalists are coming from overseas, including re- Set to enter the record books porters from Korean daily Chosum Ilbo, IT WOULD NOT COME AS A COMPLETE SHOCK TO LEARN Ecuador’s El Universo and Pakistan’s Daily Azkaar. A total of 198 hopefuls THAT HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH A NEW AND HITHERTO entered the qualifying tournament, but UNKNOWN CONDITION CALLED ‘CEASELESS REPETITION DISORDER’. only 32 names go into the hat to be drawn into eight groups of four teams. The two-times FIFA World All will become clear on 9 “The only seeds so far are Cup winner has spent the last year December from 8.30 pm CET onwards Brazil as FIFA World Cup holders, and answering the same question over and at the final draw for the 2006 FIFA Germany as hosts. Remaining proce- over again at every public appear- World Cup, to be conducted by stars of dures for the draw will be finalised by ance. “I don’t have tickets. You have world football in the 20,000 square the Organising Committee for the FIFA to order them. Only through the metre Hall 1 at the Leipzig Trade Fair. World Cup chaired by Lennart Johans- internet. I’m not a ticket office.” “We’re expecting record TV ratings,” son when it meets on 6 December Beckenbauer’s global Welcome Tour commented Wolfgang Niersbach, OC in Leipzig,” Franz Beckenbauer explains. hit the road a few weeks ago, pur- vice-president responsible for media. Further highlights include the unveiling suing an itinerary equating to three TV stations from 136 countries have of the official match ball by adidas, round-the-world trips in 50 days. agreed deals with international rights- with the OC presenting the tournament The 2006 FIFA World Cup Organising holder Infront for coverage of the corporate identity for the first time. Committee (OC) president is per- event. Back in 2001, a quarter of a The FIFA Executive Committee is to meet sonally visiting all 31 of the summer billion people from 100 countries were in Leipzig, ‘Place of the linden trees’ 2006 contestants, passing on con- glued to their screens, but this time according to the Slavic origins of the gratulations, listening to wishes around the viewing figure should shatter city’s name, with the German Football expressed by the local association, the 300 million mark. Association (DFB) gathering on Friday and discovering that alongside ticket- “The draw has evolved into a morning for an extraordinary general ing, another topic has begun to show provoking immense interest meeting. Also on the day of the draw provoke a few sleepless nights in the around the world,” observed OC senior itself, the OC hosts a team seminar for footballing community. “Who will vice-president Horst R. Schmidt. Becken- the associations, tabling themes to be be seeded, apart from Germany bauer and his team have felt the rising explored in more depth at a workshop and Brazil? Where does our nation sense of anticipation everywhere, from in Dusseldorf over a number of days fit into the draw?” Iran to Italy, but on the night itself the in March 2006. Supermodel Heidi Klum and sports reporting legend Reinhold Beck- mann will present the show. Klum, married to singer Seal, made her per- sonal breakthrough in 1998 as cover girl for Sports Illustrated’s “Swimsuit Edition”. Beckmann revolutionised TV coverage of the game in Germany with the “ran” concept in the early 1990s. At a press conference in Leipzig on 17 November, the OC and Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, FIFA revealed the identity of the star Michael Schumacher, Joseph S. Blatter, musical guest: Colombian rocker Juanes. Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer at the

draw for the qualifying competition. DFB Thomas Hackbarth

08 uefadirect 12.05 PER RAVN OMDAL Member of the Executive Committee since 1992. Norway Vice-president since 1996. 20.8.1947 Member of the FIFA Executive Committee from 1994 to 2002. Former president of the Norwegian Football Association and now honorary president.

PORTRAIT Business consultant.

Eleven questions for the Executive Committee members Per Ravn AFTER SENES ERZIK, IN THE LAST ISSUE, THE SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT OF UEFA, PER RAVN OMDAL, ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS OF UEFADIRECT. Omdal Your first football memory? have since contributed a lot to European Sea or mountains? I think I was three or four. My father football and raised the sporting stan- We are a country of both mountains was chairman of a football club and he dards. This is a very important develop- and sea, but I have to say I prefer the took me along. So I think I must have ment, because the gap between the big sea. started kicking a ball at that age. As a and the small associations used to be so A dream? player, I started when I was seven at much wider. But now, we have a competi- My biggest dream is that the efforts Stavangers, a club which celebrates its tive level in the middle, which has helped of UEFA and the national associations centenary this year. improve the overall competitive level. will eventually get rid of racism in society First meeting in a UEFA Defender or ? and in football because I think that is committee? I was a midfielder when I was a one of the worst elements of our daily In 1990, I was appointed as a mem- player, and I guess that could also de- life. For me, everybody is equal and ber of the European Football Champi- scribe my life as a football politician. everybody onship Committee which was preparing In some respects, I am very insistent and should have for EURO ’92 in Sweden under the impatient, like when I come up against the same chairmanship of Nikolay Ryashentsev. racism or intolerance, or when it comes opportuni- We had a trial tournament in Sweden for to making grassroots football a priority. ties to par- the European Championship final round, But I am also a true defender of the ticipate in and it was very exciting. It was a new institutions, a true defender of FIFA, society. world for me, even though I had already UEFA and the national associations, and been in football for many years. I think the old expression of “association A player? football” says a lot. The national asso- For me, Pelé was without a doubt ciations must be the ones organising, the best player. I followed his career from protecting and developing the game in when he first appeared on the scene, the different countries. It is very impor- in the 1958 World Cup, and I have had tant to consider all the elements of the pleasure of meeting him on several football in the overall picture. occasions. He was the greatest player We give you a ball, what do and is a big, big personality, a true am- you do with it? bassador for football. Normally, if my feet were good, A memorable match? I’d start to juggle with it. When The 1998 World Cup match when I was young, I was very good Norway beat Brazil in Marseilles in the at doing that. group phase and we qualified for the A city? next round to meet Italy. For a small Paris, because Paris country like ours, to play Brazil and has everything: football, to beat them at that was a fantastic history, culture, people… moment in my football life. It’s almost everything. It is a real impossible to describe. metropolis. An anecdote from a UEFA event? Detective story or I used to be chairman of the East economic treatise? European Assistance Bureau and visited The honest East European countries many times. side of me would I must say it was fantastic to experience say detective the cooperation, to discover the different novel. I read a lot: cultures, and to help those football I spend quite associations to establish themselves. some time on It has been very rewarding to be part planes and read of this development, which has been re- then, and when

warding not only for the individual coun- I am on holiday UEFA PHOTOS: tries but for European football as a whole I read almost because the East European associations all the time.

9 Exercises Plenary on the field meeting. and group discussions are the key to the success of such conferences. UEFA Women’s Football

A buzzConference of excitement in Oslo

THE FIFTH UEFA WOMEN’S FOOTBALL CONFERENCE WAS IMPECCABLY HOSTED BY THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FROM 17 TO 19 OCTOBER IN OSLO AND LED WITH PASSION AND COMMITMENT TO THE CAUSE BY PER RAVN OMDAL, HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE NORWEGIAN FA AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF UEFA. IT WAS THE FIRST CONFERENCE TO BE STAGED SINCE THE EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP CAME UNDER THE AEGIS OF UEFA’S PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL DIVISION, WHOSE DIRECTOR, GIORGIO MARCHETTI, WAS IN OSLO TO OUTLINE THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF THE DECISION, WHILE UEFA’S TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, ANDY ROXBURGH, REVIEWED THE MULTITUDE OF UEFA ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY WITHIN THE REALM OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL.

During her review of the recent cially in the last third of the pitch, many more female coaches and refer- European Championship finals in Eng- where players did not have time to ees to be invited into the party. land, Vera Pauw, a member of UEFA’s pick off the decisive pass.” Technical Study Group at the event and Vera’s observation could Germany still a reference currently head coach of the Dutch perhaps be extended from the pitch Germany’s victory at WOMEN’S national team, remarked that “the pace across the whole of the women’s EURO 2005 underscored the fact that of women’s football has increased game. In Oslo, three days of discus- they are still a point of reference for incredibly. The teams were able to sion confirmed that Europe’s fastest- the rest of the field. That’s why the sustain a high tempo over the full growing sport has reached a stage 51 European national associations and 90 minutes and to put the player in where ‘decisive passes’ need to be the representatives from Africa, Asia, possession under constant pressure. delivered. The sheer pace of develop- the Americas, Oceania and FIFA were But the high pace was sometimes ment has created a situation where, all ears during the opening-day session a barrier to clarity and control, espe- for example, there are openings for dedicated to women’s football in the PHOTOS: UEFA PHOTOS:

10 uefadirect 12.05 The captains of the UEFA Champions League teams wore anti-racism armbands.

Racism gets the red card

EMPICS in the Hungarian first division. SZOBOLITS

country that currently holds the world and European titles. Tina Theune-Meyer Anti-racism (who stood down as head coach after the victory in Blackburn), Willi Hink Action week

(Director of Amateur & Women’s Foot- UEFA AGAIN LENT ITS SUPPORT TO THE EUROPEAN ANTI-RACISM ball) and Heike Ullrich (Manager of ACTION WEEK ORGANISED BY THE FARE NETWORK. the Women’s Football Department) reviewed the development of women’s Events were held all over to professionals. Matchday 3 of the over the last Europe from 13 to 25 October in order UEFA Champions League gave the 20 years or so and outlined all the to help kick racism out of football, campaign the additional boost of hard work invested in coach and player both in stadiums and elsewhere. Nu- a huge television audience since, in education, promotion and projects merous anti-racism banners, T-shirts, all 16 matches, the teams entered which target schoolchildren. red cards and magazines were distrib- the field accompanied by children uted. Friendly matches were organ- wearing shirts with an anti-racism World Under-l7 Championship ised, information leaflets handed out slogan. The same message was and discussions held in order to find printed on the captains’ armbands The information was invaluable ways of eradicating the scourge of and messages were broadcast over to the national associations who have racism. the stadium tannoy systems and in travelled much shorter distances along The action week has proven the match programmes. the development road than the world to be a resounding success, with In Nyon, on the pitch champions. And additional messages more than 1,000 activities happening adjacent to the UEFA headquarters, were transmitted by speakers such as in 32 European countries, reaching a team of UEFA staff marked this Elisabeth Loisel, who explained how millions with a strong anti-racism sixth FARE action week with a her French national teams have man- message. match against a team of players aged to take giant strides in such a This year’s action week was from different countries: Cameroon, short time, and Sheila Begbie, who FARE’s most successful in Eastern Canada, Morocco, Egypt, France, explained how the Scottish FA is setting Europe. All Slovak first division teams the Philippines, Russia, Serbia and about building a healthy future. showed racism the red card. In Ro- Montenegro... mania, several top-flight clubs took The fight against racism ‘Building a future’ obviously a stand under the banner “United is a long-term project in which UEFA hinges on grassroots programmes. So, against Discrimination”. is permanently involved: it will play apart from assessing the state of play in In the UK, community groups, an active part in organising the the European Championship at the peak clubs and campaigners hosted a 2nd Pan-European Conference on of the pyramid, there was great empha- staggering 600 events. In an extraor- Racism, to be held in Barcelona sis on laying a solid base by giving girls dinary feat of coordination, all 92 pro- on 1 February next year, and is equal opportunities to play football. fessional clubs in England and Wales, working closely with the European Encouraging them to stay in the game together with all 42 Scottish clubs, Parliament on the drafting of a during their teens is another crucial joined in the action. declaration on racism, which will be element and, with FIFA’s Director of The activities involved all presented in Brussels at the end Football Development, Mary Harvey, levels of the game, from amateurs of November. confirming the introduction of a world championship for the Under-17s, there is important work to be done in an age Taking to the field for the match group where, at the moment, no pan- between AC Milan European women’s competition exists. and PSV Eindhoven. With so many pots on the boil, it was understandable that the discus- sion groups in Oslo generated pages and pages of proposals for UEFA’s ‘action list’. So many that, as the women’s game develops at full pace, the moment has come to raise heads and ‘pick off the decisive passes’. EMPICS

11 The meeting was also an opportunity for the general secretaries to make their voices heard. General secretaries

A reviewmeet of topical in Nyonmatters

AT THEIR MEETING IN NYON ON 26 AND 27 OCTOBER, THE GENERAL SECRETARIES OF 49 OF UEFA’S 52 MEMBER

ASSOCIATIONS WERE GIVEN AN OVERVIEW OF THE VARIOUS INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN BY UEFA SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE

“VISION EUROPE” STRATEGY, WHICH SEEKS TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

It aims, among other things, the players. However, UEFA was an The general secretaries also at modernising the organisation, association of associations and had welcomed the immense progress further strengthening support to the to remain that way. Moreover, as made by women’s football, borne out associations, mapping the future demonstrated by recently introduced by the success of WOMEN’S EURO for club and national-team compe- programmes such as TEP (the Top 2005 in England. titions, stimulating greater interest in Executive Programme) and HatTrick, grassroots and women’s football, UEFA’s aim was not only to manage Agreements while also developing futsal and but also to serve European football. With dialogue also a highly beach football. Particular emphasis had to topical subject, UEFA has signed a Opening the meeting, the be placed on grassroots football, memorandum of understanding with UEFA Chief Executive, Lars-Christer for which UEFA has established a the European professional leagues Olsson, stressed the need to look to charter (see November 2005 issue (EPFL), for whom office space is to be the future and keep the football family of uefadirect). Numerous initiatives made available at UEFA headquarters together. Relations with FIFA and the for developing grassroots football in Nyon. A memorandum of under- confederations had to be developed are already under way, such as con- standing has also been signed with further and agreement reached on ferences, summer schools, the FIFPro, and a similar arrangement how responsibilities should be split in “Young Champions” programme con- is currently under dicussion with the interests of efficiency. There was nected with the Champions League, the clubs within the framework of the a need to constantly develop collabo- specialist publications, on-line edu- European Club Forum. ration, communication and consulta- cation programmes and other devel- On the competition front, tions with the leagues, the clubs and opment measures. UEFA has adopted an integrated marketing approach to EURO 2008, using its affiliated companies to handle marketing, media technology and event management in order to have better control, flexibility and in-house coordination of its activities. UEFA has also revamped its sponsor- ship activities with the EUROTOP pro- gramme, which comprises an exclu- sive grouping of six partners spon- soring UEFA’s top national men’s and women’s team competitions, includ- ing futsal, over a four-year period.

Club licensing With regard to club licensing, 51 licensors (the national associations

PHOTOS: UEFA PHOTOS: or the leagues) have been awarded

12 uefadirect 12.05 Mini-pitches like this one in Zajercar in Serbia and Montenegro are a valuable tool for the development of grassroots football. UEFA SPECIAL OLYMPICS FS SCG

quality assurance certification by the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS). Report from The Scottish FA has even received ISO 9001 certification. For the 2005/06 season, 656 clubs have now fulfilled all the conditions for obtaining the licence, compared with 644 in Brussels 2004/05. United by football The general secretaries also turned their attention to refereeing, UEFA AND SPECIAL OLYMPICS EUROPE/EURASIA ORGANISED A MINI-TOURNAMENT coach education and the revamped AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS ON 11 OCTOBER. IN BRIGHT Meridian Project. They also heard AUTUMN SUNSHINE, SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHLETES PLAYED IN MIXED TEAMS ALONGSIDE UEFA’s position on cross-border com- petitions such as the Scandinavian MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (MEPS) AND PUPILS FROM Royal League, which UEFA has approved THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BRUSSELS. for another four years and from which it can learn lessons which can The tournament took place football development project in be applied throughout Europe. on a small pitch in the Parc Léopold, 2006. Many other subjects were behind the main building of the MEP Chris Heaton-Harris, who European Parliament. The city of surprised the crowd by scoring two also covered at this meeting, such as Brussels had generously offered long-range efforts, remarked during relations with the European Union, to renovate the surface, and the the medals ceremony, “Today, we positive developments in the HatTrick glorious weather did the rest. FIFA all contributed to an event that will programme, and the use of artificial referee Paul Allaerts kindly agreed foster a better understanding in turf, which has revealed the need to run the games together with his Parliament of the role sport can play for more testing laboratories and two Belgian assistants. Around 60 in changing perceptions about intel- field testers. people from the Parliament and the lectual disabilities.” European Commission turned up One of the students from the to watch the action, including the International School of Brussels Commission’s Sports Unit. added, “The extraordinary thing is Supporting Above all, the afternoon that, while playing, you never see football for offered MEPs a brilliant demonstra- the differences between each other; tion of football’s power to bring on the team we were all equal and the blind people together. Special Olympics is that was great.” In October, UEFA and the Inter- trying to develop a new attitude in national Blind Sports Federation (IBSF) Brussels towards people with intel- signed an agreement for the develop- lectual disabilities and their role ment of football for the blind. UEFA has in sport. For UEFA, the event was a also made a donation of CHF 160,000 chance to show our stakeholders in the EU that UEFA actively pro- to the federation, to be used notably for motes the idea of sport for all, and the organisation of a pilot IBSF seminar supports football of all levels in Cyprus on the topics of the mobility and abilities. and orientation of blind footballers, and For 90 minutes, nothing mat- futsal for the blind. The UEFA contribu- tered except the action on the pitch. tion will also enable the IBSF to produce Everyone was equal and united in training and promotional material, to their love of football, separated only develop its internet site and to recruit a by their desire to win the next part-time project manager. tackle. If the MEPs could not always IBSF has over 100 member asso- match the younger players for speed ciations worldwide, including 35 in and acceleration, their enjoyment of the game – and healthy competitive Europe. It promotes sport (14 disciplines) spirit – was visible throughout. for the blind and visually impaired and The tournament marked another organises events and competitions such milestone in UEFA’s relationship with as the 5th European Blind Football Cham- Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia. pionship, which took place in Cyprus William Gaillard, UEFA Director of in November. Communications and Public Affairs, presented the organisation with a Unusual activity at the

cheque worth CHF 500,000 for its European Parliament. UEFA

13 The UEFA The success of the Executive last European Committee Women's Championship in discussion (Germany v. France) in Malta. has convinced the Executive Committee to increase the number of final-round participants. D. AQUILINA GETTY IMAGES

the groups – based until now on those of the senior competition – to Meetings and establish a coefficient ranking sys- tem for the national associations in this age group. The coefficients will be based on the results of the pre- other activities vious two qualifying competitions. For the next edition, the qualifying results from 2002-04 and 2004-06 EURO 2012 short list will apply. After the approval of a new format for the UEFA Intertoto Cup at FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER THE CONGRESS WHICH ELECTED LENNART JOHANSSON the Rome meeting in September, TO THE UEFA PRESIDENCY, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE RETURNED TO MALTA the issue of the allocation of vacant places at the closure of registration FOR ITS FIFTH ORDINARY MEETING OF 2005. remained. Whereas these places were hitherto awarded to the associations The most eagerly awaited which has already reached remark- at the top of the UEFA ranking, the agenda item was the last one: short- able heights. It decided to expand the Executive Committee has now opted listing the contenders to host EURO final round of the European Women’s for a more even distribution. Still in 2012. With little to choose between the Championship, which will have 12 par- accordance with the ranking, the asso- applications in technical terms, poli- ticipants instead of eight as from 2009. ciations will be divided into three tical considerations helped to tip the At the same time, the two-division groups. If there is a vacant berth in a balance. After a single round of voting system will be abolished to allow all group, it will first of all be offered by secret ballot, the candidates cho- entrants to contest the title (second- to an association in the same group. sen for the next phase of the bidding division teams could previously only The additional team from this asso- process were Italy (11 votes from the aim for promotion to the first divi- ciation will then enter the first round 12 eligible members), Croatia/Hungary sion). Some teams will be required to of the competition, irrespective of (9) and Ukraine/Poland (7), with play qualifying matches before the the association’s ranking. Turkey and Greece being excluded from group phase, and associations elimi- the running at this stage. The three nated following these qualifiers will be Otherwise, the Executive remaining contenders will now be the beneficiaries of a programme to Committee: required to supply further documenta- support the development of women’s ■ gave the go-ahead to tion, visits to the countries concerned football in their countries. a convention on referee education, will take place next September and which will be presented to the the Executive Committee will take its Under 21 ranking system UEFA Congress in Budapest in March final decision in December 2006. With the European Under-21 2006; Championship emerging from the ■ noted the new form of New dimension for Women’s EURO shadows of the senior team competi- cooperation between CAF and UEFA, The Executive Committee also tion through the allocation of its own with the focus on education (see the wanted to send a strong new signal in slot in odd-numbered years, it was September 2005 issue of uefadirect); connection with women’s football, necessary, for the purpose of forming ■ set up a working group responsible for reviewing UEFA com- petition regulations before they are approved; this group will be chaired by UEFA vice-president Geoffrey Thompson; ■ approved the accounts which will be submitted to the Con- gress in Budapest; ■ approved the recommen- dations of the Technical Development Committee and Jira Panel regarding the UEFA Convention on the Mutual On the occasion of its meeting in Recognition of Coaching Qualifica- Malta, the Executive Committee was tions and the admission of the foot- received by the prime minister of Malta, Lawrence Gonzi. ball associations of Iceland (A licence), Left to right: Lars-Christer Olsson, Portugal (A and Pro), Russia (B and A) Lawrence Gonzi, Lennart Johansson and Joseph Mifsud (president of the Malta FA and San Marino (A and Pro, in partner-

and member of the Executive Committee). D. AQUILINA ship with Italy);

14 uefadirect 12.05 Chosen as one of the “Twelve Books that changed the World” (the name of a series to be shown on ITV1 in the UK), the first Rule Book of , published in 1863, was used for the re-enactment of a match played the same year between Barnes and Richmond, using the kit and rules of the time, with ten players on each side, one hour of playing time, and no referee!

■ unveiled the re-modelled European Championship trophy, which will be displayed at the draw in Montreux next January.

Youth and women’s PETER ROBINSON competitions round, where they are May and will involve the host nation Like their A and Under-21 joined by 25 teams from a and the seven winners of the elite- counterparts, the national goal-packed preliminary round groups. Two of the 2005 final- youth teams have had a busy time round. Played in the form ists – Belarus and Croatia – have of late. of mini-tournaments, the already been eliminated. At Under-19 level, 25 teams preliminary round produced 235 ■ In the UEFA Women’s have qualified for the elite goals in total, making an average of Cup, the semi-finals are taking place round, where they will join 3.26 per match. in November. One of the ties the Czech Republic, England The draw for the Elite opposes title-holders 1.FFC Turbine and Spain, who had a bye round is being made in Cyprus on Potsdam and Djurgården/Älvsjö, for the first round, where three of the 30 November. The final round and the other 1.FFC Frankfurt and 2005 finalists fell by the wayside, itself takes place in Luxembourg in Montpellier HSC. namely Armenia, Greece and Norway. The draw for the elite round is being made in Cyprus on 30 Novem- Futsal Cup and Club World Championship ber, during the UEFA Youth Football The second qualifying round in the UEFA Futsal Cup, for which eight Conference. The teams will be divided teams have qualified, will be played in the following groups, as drawn into seven groups of four, from which in July: the winners will go through to join Group A: Kairat Almaty (KAZ), SL Benfica (POR), Cristal Noir MB hosts Poland in the final round. Morlanwelz (BEL), Boomerang Interviú (ESP) In the Women’s Under-19 Group B: MFK Dinamo (RUS), KMF Marbo Beograd (SCG), Action 21 Championship, the second Charleroi (BEL), FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) qualifying round lies ahead. The corresponding draw was The group matches will be played in the form of mini-tournaments next made during the UEFA March. The group-winners and runners-up will contest the semi-finals, in accor- Women’s Football Conference in Oslo dance with the new competition format. Last year’s finalists – title-holders Action on 19 October, resulting in the follow- 21 Charleroi and Dinamo Moscow – are in the same group. ing group formations: Group 1: France, Poland, ■ Liverpool are competing in the FIFA Club World Championship in Norway, Serbia and Montenegro December in Japan. The UEFA Champions League title-holders have a bye until Group 2: Russia, Finland, the semi-finals on 15 December, when they will come up against the winners Portugal, Israel of the match between FC Sydney and Deportivo Saprissa. Group 3: Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Hungary Group 4: England, Denmark, Iceland, Romania Group 5: Germany, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, In the European Under-17 Slovenia Championship, Bulgaria and Germany have both qualified Group 6: Spain, Sweden, for the elite round. Austria, Greece Group 7: Belgium, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Wales The round will be played in the form of mini-tournaments between 25 and 29 April. The seven group-winners will join hosts Switzerland in the final round from 11 to 22 July. Switzer- land qualify automatically. ■ In the Under-17 Championship, England, France and Spain qualified

directly for the elite IMAGES VOGEL/BONGARTS/GETTY

15 BELARUS News Mini-pitches hugely popular The Belarus Football Federation from member associations (BFF) recently opened another two mini- pitches funded from UEFA’s HatTrick programme in the cities of Lida (Grodno region) and Ljuban ( region). The football schools in these two regions earned the right to such facilities in recognition of their efforts to support the development of football in these parts ARMENIA AUSTRIA of the country. The youngsters for whom these mini-pitches are intended are Second B level coaching First UEFA mini-pitch course launched inaugurated The FA of Armenia (FFA), UEFA’s golden jubilee has pro- which now belongs to UEFA’s coach vided an opportunity to highlight UEFA’s education convention, has successfully commitment to grassroots football. completed the first stage of its coach “With this mini-pitch, we are education programme. taking into account the growing popu- larity of recreational sport. I am sure that it will be a popular meeting point for children, young people and adults who are sports enthusiasts,” said the president of the Austrian FA, Friedrich Stickler, at the opening ceremony.

Friedrich Stickler was particu- BFF larly pleased to welcome Mathieu A new mini-pitch for Lida. Sprengers, UEFA treasurer, to the open- ing ceremony: “It is a good thing that absolutely delighted to have the opportu- we are working for,” said the Dutch nity to practise and play football all year guest of honour in his speech. around. The managers of the venues are Mr Stickler thanked UEFA, on even having to cope with the problem whose initiative the creation of the mini- of requests to play on the mini-pitch far pitch was based. To mark its golden

FFA exceeding the number of hours available. jubilee, UEFA is helping all its member Another special event in which The graduate coaches. associations to build such pitches. the BFF was involved took place in the city The Lower Austrian football of Kopyl (Minsk region). On the initiative association and the city of St. Pölten The first B level licensing course of the national paralympics committee, were ideal partners to help with the im- involved 19 Armenian coaches from top representatives of the Belarusian parlia- plementation of this project. The mini- and first division clubs. After theoretical ment, the sports’ writers association, pitch is ideally located, its proximity and practical modules in April and May, sportsmen, athletes and businessmen, to several schools suggesting that it is the coaches sat their final exams to obtain local children had the great opportunity likely to be very well used. the UEFA B licence. The practical part to meet Belarusian sporting legends and This positive example is ex- of the final exams, which was held from to find out all about them. They also pected to be the first of many mini- 21-23 September, took place in the pres- received lots of gifts, including football pitches to be built in Austria in the next ence of youth teams, the young players’ equipment and kits donated by the BFF. few years. parents and a large audience. The final This goodwill and charity action has now Ronald Gollatz exams were observed by Jira Panel instruc- become a traditional event, having already tor Zdenek Sivek from the Czech Republic, been organised in different Belarusian whose help to the FFA was indispensable towns and cities for the last four years. during the courses. The new B licence- holders will go on to follow an A licence Alexander Leshchik course. In the meantime, they have to clock up one year’s coaching experience in their clubs. BOSNIA AND The FFA decided to start a second HERZEGOVINA B level course immediately. The course be- gan on 20 October. There are 19 coaches Success for the seniors only participating in this course as well. The With the completion of the quali- UEFA coach education convention, which fying campaigns, the results of all the has gained wide popularity in Armenian national teams were analysed by the Foot- football circles, is very important for the ball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina FFA, as it is a basis for educating high- executive board. The only team which

level coaches in the future. ÖFB brought satisfaction to fans and adminis- Arayik Manukyan Inauguration of the St. Pölten mini-pitch. trators was the senior national side,

16 uefadirect 12.05 which came third in the Group 7 qualifiers Cup. Despite needing only one point who, along with The FA, co-funded the for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Their fight to win the group, local side MNK Karaka school visit programme. to enter the play-offs ended in , lost the decisive final encounter against “Girls’ and women’s football when they lost 1-0 against Serbia and Mon- Morlanwelz 1-0. Even so, finishing as group was identified by LEFA as a priority tenegro. This was the second time in a row runners-up signifies major progress for development area,” explained The FA’s – following the qualifiers for EURO 2004 – the futsal players from Mostar, which was Head of International Relations, Jane that the senior national team had failed to also the venue for the matches played by Bateman. “This visit was not only an secure qualification in their final group Araz Naxcivan and De Hommel. opportunity to share our experience of match. Achieving third place in Group 7 Fuad Krvavac developing women’s football – which was still a success, however, given that the only really started to grow in England initial favourites to go through from this in relatively recent times – but also to strong group were Spain, Serbia and Mon- expose our staff to the issues that other tenegro and Belgium, with Lithuania rated ENGLAND countries are facing as part of their the same as Bosnia and Herzegovina. own personal and professional develop- The contract between head coach Developing girls’ football in Lesotho ment. Furthermore, it was an opportu- Blaz Sliskovic and the Bosnia and Herze- nity to look once again at how football The FA took its first steps in can be used as a tool to develop leader- govina FA ends in January, but in view of addressing girls’ football development the fact that he has been the most success- ship skills, to inspire and motivate within its International Development young people, and to deliver important ful national-team coach ever, he can be Programme with a week-long visit to its expected to play a role in the next round health messages.” Meridian Project partner country, Lesotho, Jane Bateman of qualifying matches for EURO 2008 in in October. The programme addressed: Switzerland and Austria. The Under-21 side came fourth ■ young leadership in their European Championship qualifying ■ girls’ and women’s football FINLAND group, with three wins and one draw. ■ HIV/AIDS awareness through football. The fans had little to celebrate At the heart of the visit was from the Under-19s, who were hosts but a three-day workshop for 36 delegates New futsal season gets finished last in Group 11 of the European involved in some way with girls’ and under way women’s football at the headquarters of Championship qualifying round, losing all Another futsal season kicked three matches. The first was played at the off in Finland as last season’s champions, Slavija stadium in Lukavica, where the home FS Ilves, met cup-holders GFT in the team lost to Croatia 5-0, followed by 2-0 Super Cup final at the end of October. defeats against Bulgaria and Iceland. The GFT won the tie 6-4 and are among the contracts of the respective team coaches – favourites for the 2005/06 league title. Ibrahim Zukanovic (Under-21), Nikola Nikic The futsal league currently com- (Under-19) and Velimir Stojic (Under-17) – prises 12 teams, but this number will be ended on completion of the qualifiers. reduced by two next season and as a The capital of Bosnia and Herze- result matches govina was the host venue for another UEFA will be played tournament – namely, the Group 6 first on home and qualifying round in the Women’s Under-19 Championship. The home side finished away basis. This season, however, each team faces the other contenders once third in the group, while the top spot went THE FA only. The futsal league reaches its peak to Russia and Iceland were runners-up. Young enthusiasts in Lesotho. The Bosnia and Herzegovina FA in early February, when the best six teams play the final round. The last match and the city of Mostar hosted the Group 5 the Lesotho FA (LEFA) in Maseru, discussing first qualifying round of the UEFA Futsal of the season is the cup final, which is the challenges that women’s football faces scheduled for 25 February. and strategic planning for its future devel- The Finnish futsal championship opment. At the same time, other members is now into its ninth season. The game Final decisive match in Belgrade of the ten-strong delegation worked with a was played by students initially, but the against Serbia and Montenegro. local primary school, teaching basic football number of licensed players has increased skills to 60 of its pupils with the assistance of FA-trained ‘young leaders’ from England drastically in the space of ten years. and from Lesotho itself. Although many 11-a-side football players The FA invited the assistance play futsal during the winter period, more of the Maseru-based OlympAfrica Youth and more participants are concentrating Ambassadors Programme (OYAP) to inte- solely on futsal. grate HIV/AIDS awareness messages into “Today, we have some 20,000 their training in response to the severity futsal players, and there is a growing of the HIV crisis in the ‘Mountain King- demand for leagues at different levels. dom’, where young girls are one of the At the moment, we are concentrating groups most at risk. The OYAP pro- on making the season longer and in- gramme focuses on empowering creasing the number of pure futsal youth through sport. Run by players. There is a gap between us and the Lesotho National Olympic countries which have played futsal for Committee, it is supported years. However, we are aiming to close F.KRVAVAC by Commonwealth that gap from year to year,” says Kalle Games Canada Marttinen, futsal expert at the Finnish FA. and UK Sport Sami Terävä

17 Indeed, thanks to the UEFA- GERMANY endorsed coach education, qualified B, ICELAND A and Pro-licence coaches are working throughout the country with the aim Fritz Walter Medal awarded of securing the success of future genera- Coaching changes to talented youth players tions. When the contracts of joint na- The German Football Association The other three departments will tional team coaches Ásgeir Sigurvinsson (DFB) has created an award for promising also be very important for the Hungarian and Logi Ólafsson expired at the end of youth players which is designed above all football family. In the key education area the qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA to benefit the clubs responsible for training of executive management, students will World Cup, the Icelandic FA decided not them. The award has been called the Fritz gather information on how to run a foot- to renew them. A haul of only four points Walter Medal, in memory of the honorary ball club or a local association. “We know from ten matches in Group 8 – which also captain of the national team and 1954 that this knowledge is so specific that included Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hun- world champion. “The players who have sometimes a general university quali- gary and Malta – was considered simply received the Fritz Walter Medal are ex- fication in economics is simply not not good enough. The pair had been in pected to emulate his way of doing things enough,” commented department head charge since the spring of 2003, starting on and off the field. At the same time Ferenc Dénes. out as caretakers following the resignation the award is an expression of gratitude An additional plus is that the of the previous coach, Atli Edvaldsson. to the clubs which have trained the first management education course will After wins in their first two matches in players,” said DFB executive president be attended by the general secretaries charge, they agreed a contract to lead the Theo Zwanziger. of the local (county) associations. team for the next few years. The DFB announced the first re- The new head coach is Eyjólfur cipients of the medal in the run-up to the Sverrisson, who has coached the Under-21 international match in Hamburg on 12 Oct- team for the past two years. Sverrisson ober between Germany and China. A panel is widely regarded as one of the most suc- composed of DFB coaches and members cessful Icelandic players of all times, hav- of the DFB youth committee selected three ing won the in Germany with male players born in each of the years Stuttgart and the Turkish league title with 1986 (Under-19), 1987 (Under-18) and 1988 Besiktas. A dominating central defender, (Under-17), and also three female players he amassed 66 caps and ten goals for his born in 1985, 1986 and 1988, for out- country, despite never having played club standing performances in the 2004/05 football in Iceland’s top flight. season. The gold medal winners were MLSZ In addition to the respect he Florian Müller (FC Bayern Munich), Marc- Launch of the Hungarian FA’s new commands, Sverrisson’s strength of André Kruska (), Sergej training project. character and coaching philosophy made Evljuskin (VfL Wolfsburg) and him first choice for the senior coaching (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam). “The players The third department will be post, and he showed no hesitation in are role models who will lay value-based concerned with referee education. ”We do accepting the offer of the job. Iceland has foundations, with the help of their not want to centralise everything for the simply conceded too many goals this coaches, for a society characterised by referees physically but with the launch year, including three in each of the last tolerance, respect, sportsmanship and of the MLSZ education centre we can four matches. Sverrisson will be certain commitment,” said Theo Zwanziger in establish uniform standards, guidelines to place the emphasis on shoring up the his speech at the awards ceremony. and roles for all referees,” said János defence and building up attacks from In future the DFB intends the Fritz Ring, department vice-president and for- the back. With a lot of exciting new talent Walter Medal to be a means of honouring mer international assistant referee. As in coming through, in particular Gretar Rafn not only promising youth players but also the case of the coaches, there are three Steinsson at Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and the clubs which are providing the training. levels of education for Hungarian referees. Swedish Allsvenskan top scorer Gunnar Amateur clubs will therefore receive finan- Only those trained to the highest level will Heidar Thorvaldsson at Halmstad, prom- cial awards in proportion to the period for be allowed to officiate at top-flight (NB I) ising times lie ahead for Iceland’s national which the talented young player in ques- games. “To be frank, with this centre team. Ómar Smárason tion was trained at the club. we are a little bit above European stan- Maximilian Geis dards, as UEFA is just about to launch a referee education programme,” com- mented MLSZ president Imre Bozóky. HUNGARY The fourth department will cover LITHUANIA education in physiotherapy, with the aim of helping those working in that field to MLSZ turns to education gain an officially recognised qualification. A good exercise In mid-October, the Hungarian ”The European Union places Under-17 football teams from Football Federation (MLSZ) officially responsibility for education in the hands Northern Ireland, Malta, Serbia and Mon- launched its new project to set up an edu- of the relevant social bodies and we are tenegro and Lithuania spent a week in cation centre, which will comprise four proud to be putting this into practice,” Kaunas competing in a mini-tournament departments. The first will be concerned said István Baranya, the MLSZ education in the preliminary phase of the European with coach education under the leadership centre director, who spearheaded the Under-17 Championship. Although Lithua- of György Mezey. “UEFA approved our process to achieve state accreditation nia finished only in third place in this efforts to establish coach education here for the centre. All diplomas issued by the tournament, won by Serbia and Montene- in Hungary and the creation of such a education centre will thus be officially gro, the young players and coaches were centre reflects the aims of UEFA,” said recognised at national level. left with good memories and impressions Mezey at the press conference in Budapest. Márton Dinnyés which will stay with them for a long time.

18 uefadirect 12.05 The organisation of this tournament was very important and beneficial for the MALTA Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), which has expressed its interest in hosting the final round of either the European Under-17 In full swing or Under-19 Championship in 2009. The 2005/06 season has en- Shortly after the Under-17 qualify- tered its fifth month. The BOV (Bank of ing tournament, a UEFA representative Valletta) national leagues and the ‘Quick visited Lithuania to take a look at the Keno’ knock-out competition for the stadiums and training grounds in , teams in the lower divisions are well past Kaunas and Marijampole. the initial stages. So are the youth, futsal The president of the LFF, Liutauras and women’s leagues, while the ‘U* BET Varanavicius, announced that more training FSM FA Trophy’ for the top teams, the other grounds would be provided in these three knock-out competition also sponsored Marios Lefkaritis, member of the UEFA cities by 2009 and that the legendary Zal- Executive Committee (left), and Haralampie by Maltco Lotteries Ltd., started early in giris stadium in Vilnius would be renovated. Hadzi-Risteski, president of the November. In other words, the LFF is already Football Federation of FYR Macedonia. Malta’s national teams, from the doing everything it can to boost its chances Under-17 category upwards, have all been of being entrusted with the organisation hard for the good of the football, and involved on the big stage of international of a UEFA youth championship final round I am convinced that all these efforts will football, with the A and the Under-21 in 2009. also be reflected in the results of your elevens, guided by Horst Heese and Mark Vaiva Zizaite national teams,” Mr Lefkaritis said. Miller respectively, winding up their 2006 At the end of the meeting, World Cup and European Championship Mr Hadzi-Risteski, in his address to the cycles on a more than satisfactory note. FYR delegates, said that, among the tasks for Heese, also the Malta FA’s tech- MACEDONIA the next four years, the priorities were to nical director, saw off his commitments restore the national team to its previous with the association in positive fashion General assembly level in FIFA’s rankings, to develop the fede- after his second term as Malta’s head ration’s infrastructure, to improve refer- coach expired. The Maltese caused a stir The president of the Football eeing and coaching structures, and to and earned the plaudits with vibrant Federation of FYR Macedonia, Haralampie implement the UEFA safety and security performances by holding the likes of Hadzi-Risteski, was re-elected for a further standards for matches at all levels. Croatia and Bulgaria to 1-1 draws in their four-year term at the general assembly He added that the objective last two World Cup Group 8 matches. held in October in Skopje. All 93 delegates of improving the football infrastructure all For his part, Miller helped the present voted for Mr Hadzi-Risteski. over the country could not be achieved Under-21s equal the highest ever points’ In accordance with the new without the assistance of the UEFA and tally obtained by the Maltese cadets in statutes, the new composition of the as- FIFA development projects. Funds from their qualifying campaign, having picked sembly also elected the federation’s new the FIFA Goal project and the UEFA Hat- up four points at Iceland’s expense and executive committee, as well as its vice- Trick programme had, for example, en- one against Bulgaria. president, namely Redzep Bedzeti, who abled the federation to bring the Mladost Seminars, coaching courses, will also be serving his second term in this stadium in Strumica up to the required activities for referees, council and execu- office. standard, through the construction of a tive committee meetings as well as those Besides Mr Hadzi-Risteski and new stand with all the of various Malta FA boards have also Mr Bedzeti, the members of the new execu- necessary facilities, gathered momentum. The culmination tive committee are Zilkadri Iseini, Bekim the installation of of the year was the meeting of the UEFA Bauta, Sehat Redzepi, Mirce Pavlovski, Lazar floodlights and the Executive Committee in November. Nanev, Ilija Jovkov, Mite Andonovski, Orce fitting of seats in The top officials of the European confed- Todorov, Ivan Anastasovski, Dragoljub the existing stand. As eration convened in Malta for Matoski, Saso Naumoski, Dragi Serafimov a result, the federation the first time since the and Ilija Kitanoski. now boasts one more island was the nerve The assembly also appointed stadium in compliance with centre of the UEFA the Supervisory Committee, the Court of the UEFA club licensing Congress in Arbitration, the Appeals Committee, the requirements. April 1990. Legal Protection Committee and an inde- pendent auditor. Zoran The general assembly meeting Nikolovski was attended by UEFA Executive Committee member Marios Lefkaritis. In his address to the assembly, he highlighted the successful collaboration between UEFA and the leader- ship of the Football Federation of FYR Mace- donia, which, according to him, has imple- mented a lot of great projects and, most The Maltese player importantly, achieved a great improvement Etienne Barbara (No. 14) battling with the Bulgarian in the finances of the federation, club defender Valentin Iliev licensing and coach education. in the last World Cup “What I have noticed, as a fre- qualifying match. quent visitor to your federation, is that it is obvious that your president and the

executive committee are working very D.AQUILINA

19 Work on the implementation of Apart from that, the new centre a number of projects, including the UEFA will have all the necessary facilities for jubilee mini-pitches project and others technical, medical and administrative staff, of an infrastructural nature, has been in plus audio-visual facilities appropriate to progress, while the upgrading of the a modern conference hall. A spa area, with day-to-day administrative activity has also resources for physiotherapy, recuperation been under way. and treatment, will include a sauna, swim- In the media sector, the associa- ming pools, Jacuzzis and a gymnasium. tion is playing an important complemen- The centre will boast four football tary role through its own ‘MFA Magazine’ pitches (natural and artificial turf), including TV programme, a venture which has re- one with a 1400-seat stand and artificial sumed this season after being launched lighting. The media will have all the neces- in October 2004. sary means for covering live events or con- There is practically no respite ducting research for in-depth publications for the Malta FA under the expert stew- on football. FAI ardship of its indefatigable president, A comfortable and functional Photomontage of the interior of the new stadium. Joseph Mifsud. The mission statement is hotel with more than 130 beds will comprise ‘Towards a Better Future for the Game’ two sections, one for professional teams, translucent and reflective materials, all and the action is in full swing. the other for non-professional football. of which are designed to minimise the Alex Vella Close to the main entrance of the impact on the local area by reflecting as “Casa das Selecç,ões/Casa do Futebol” will much light as possible. be a public area with a restaurant, two ten- The budget for the new stadium PORTUGAL nis courts and a sports hall. The academy will be EUR 365 million (EUR 321m plus will also be a source of income, with the VAT). Further funding opportunities from possibility of hiring it to foreign teams the provision of additional premium seats A “House of Football” for Portugal and companies being mooted. “This is one and corporate facilities mean that the FAI The first vice-president and act- of the most important and ambitious and the IRFU are confident that the extra ing general secretary of the Portuguese projects ever implemented in Portuguese monies needed will be raised by the two Football Federation (FPF), Ângelo Brou, football. It is a further contribution from associations. The government is providing has been monitoring the progress of one the FPF board and myself towards the a generous contribution of EUR 191 of the biggest projects the FPF has ever development of Portuguese football. We million. undertaken – namely, the recently started want this to be the gathering point for The plans are on schedule to construction of a sporting complex to all national teams, students, the general enable the application for planning per- host all the Portuguese national teams public and other members of the football mission to be lodged in December this and serve as a true “House of Football”. family,” said Gilberto Madaíl. year. A one-year period has been allocated “It’s very interesting to see such for due process on the planning applica- a great work developing from nothing. tion, subject to which construction proper We’ll do everything in our power to make is scheduled to commence in the first sure there are no delays and we can all quarter of 2007 and finish in the second soon be proud of the “Casa das Selecções/ quarter of 2009. The existing stadium will Casa do Futebol”,” added Ângelo Brou. be available for matches during 2006. Onofre Costa Ireland’s Under-17 and Under-19 teams, both managed by Sean McCaffrey, have qualified for the elite phase of their REPUBLIC respective UEFA competitions after win- OF IRELAND ning their groups in the qualifying round. Both teams are eagerly looking forward Progress on and off the pitch to the next-phase games. The Minister for Arts, Sport and Meanwhile the women’s Under- Tourism, John O’Donoghue TD, has un- 19 team, managed by Sue Ronan, will veiled the design for the new Lansdowne face Germany, Scotland and Slovenia in the next qualifying phase after topping FPF Road Stadium, which is a joint venture be- tween the Football Association of Ireland their group in the first qualifying round. First vice-president and acting general secretary Pat Costello Angelo Brou visits the site. (FAI), the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Irish Government. The design, The academy will be located which was created by international stadium in Almargem do Bispo, Sintra, on the architects HOK Sport Architecture working RUSSIA outskirts of Lisbon, and the first module with Ireland’s Scott Tallon Walker, is for a of the project, including football pitches 50,000 all-seater stadium. and technical facilities for the football The new design evolved over a Artificial pitches for children development department, is due to be four-month period, during which the design The Football Union of Russia concluded by the end of 2006. team met with many of the different stake- constructed 76 mini-pitches in 2004/05 The “House of Football” – one holder groups involved in and impacted under the UEFA HatTrick programme, with of the most ambitious objectives of FPF by the stadium. The resultant design, which one mini-pitch for each of the country’s president Gilberto Madaíl’s programme – is on four levels for three sides, sweeps regional football federations. will occupy more than 16 hectares of down to one level at the north end to min- At its meeting on 26 April, the land and contain state-of-the-art equip- imise the impact on those residents living Russian FA executive committee approved ment and technology geared to the opti- in closest proximity to the stadium. The the “Give Children a Stadium” national mum preparation of top teams. design also makes considerable use of both investment project for the 2005-2012

20 uefadirect 12.05 period. Fifteen standard-size artificial strong opposition along the way, like Spain football pitches have been built and opened and Belgium. Such performances have SLOVENIA this year under the project, which is run restored the fans’ faith in their national jointly with the “National Football Academy” team, which means a lot. fund. Between 40 and 60 pitches are due In the last qualifying match, Serbia Raising awareness about cancer to be built every year up to 2012 in different and Montenegro beat neighbours Bosnia “Heads Up”, an initiative of the regions of Russia. and Herzegovinia 1-0 at the Crvena Zvezda Slovenian players’ union, SPINS, in coopera- The Russian FA is also set to con- stadium in Belgrade on 12 October. The tion with the institute of oncology and tinue the construction of artificial mini- only goal of the match was scored by Mateja other cancer patient associations, has been pitches in 2006, with two new programmes Kezman, his fourth in four successive offi- launched in an attempt to raise awareness about to be launched. The first is to build cial games. standard stadiums with an artificial playing Though Kezman was the individ- surface for schools, while the second ual hero of that particular night, credit for involves the construction of mini-stadiums the team’s collective success is down to for kindergartens, also with artificial turf. the head coach, Ilija Petkovic, who has led the team superbly and completely turned around a national team that lacked collec- tive morale and in which individuals came first. Petkovic and national-team cap- tain Savo Milosevic can now boast that they have not lost any World Cup match to date! Petkovic has led the team into 11 matches NZS (one for the 2002 World Cup and ten for the next) and come away with seven victo- Footballers doing their bit in the fight ries and four draws (goal difference of against cancer. 18:1). Milosevic has done even better. He has played 27 matches (25 qualifiers for about cancer and to raise funds to help

RFS the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and cancer patients in Slovenia. The project Russia aims to increase the number two in the final round in France in 1998). was launched on 12 October, the day of mini-pitches. His record currently stands at 20 victories Slovenia met Scotland in the World Cup and seven draws, with a goal difference qualifiers, with the full cooperation of The construction of artificial of 76:12. With Petkovic and Milosevic, Serbia the Slovenian FA and Slovenian profes- pitches in different regions, as described and Montenegro are much stronger, as the sional football clubs. The project will above, will help to develop football across statistics go to prove. continue until the end of the year in top the country, with more youngsters already After the win against Bosnia and division games in ten different cities being attracted to the sport and the Herzegovinia, some 50,000 fans crowded in Slovenia. The campaign will consist pitches providing a valuable resource for into Belgrade’s Trg Republike square. The of news conferences, giant screens, the amateur game as a whole. players and staff arrived an hour later and a workshops and information stands. Dmitri Sevastianov great celebration was had by all. “Welcome On match days, a brochure shaped like to the land of basketball”, everybody had a football and signed by top Slovenian said the day before. But they had changed players, will be dis- SERBIA AND their tune by that night and were singing tributed to MONTENEGRO “Germany here we come”! fans, and Aleksandar Boskovic the players Back on the centre stage on the field will wear After eight years in the shadows, white the Serbo-Montenegrin national team will T-shirts play in next year’s World Cup finals in printed Germany. It will be their tenth appearance Serbia and Montenegro with in the finals, albeit under a different name, before their final match against representing Serbia and Montenegro as Bosnia and Herzegovina. they do nowadays. “Plavi”, as the national team are affectionately known, first played in the World Cup finals as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930), then as the Socialistic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1982 and 1990), and subsequently as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1998). But names are not important. What counts is the fact that Serbia and Monte- negro found the strength to bounce back from defeat in their last EURO 2004 qualifier (losing 2-1 to Azerbaijan on 11 June 2003) to go on to top World Cup Group 7 without losing a single match and conceding only one goal in ten matches (against Spain in

Madrid), despite coming up against some FS SCG

21 the campaign logo. The campaign’s front today. Eventually the golden era had to on the match. IDDAA will also report exces- man is Jaka Jakopic, a former player with end, with the likes of Edström, Sandberg sive bets on matches to the TFA. NK Domzale. Jakopic has overcome cancer and Torstensson leaving for the big leagues. Finally, this season’s Turkish Cup and has now started playing professional Åtvidaberg were relegated from the Allsven- has got under way with a new format. The football once again in the Slovenian second skan in 1982 and dropped down the league competition, which will be broadcast on a division (with NK Factor). SPINS and its system before re-establishing themselves pay-TV channel, involves 20 teams divided players want to fight the misconceptions as a consistent second-division club over into four groups of five teams. The teams in associated with cancer and cancer patients. the last five seasons. each group will play each other just once, Therefore, the campaign logo says “Heads What happened at Åtvidaberg after which the group-winners and runners- Up!” and the slogan is “Cancer. Look it in this year is nothing short of miraculous. up go through to the quarter-finals. The the eyes and win too”. When you get can- The club went all the way to the final of the Turkish FA has changed the cup format in cer, life is not over. You are still a person Swedish Cup against league champions order to create a more profitable competi- who needs help and friends more than Djurgården. Since the latter had already tion for the clubs and the football economy. ever. SPINS wants to focus on prevention, secured their passage to the UEFA Champi- Ilker Ugur especially among sportsmen and men in ons League qualifiers next season, Åtvida- general, as, statistically, disease in men is berg were immediately awarded a place discovered six months later then in women. in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup – ahead of the Cancer can happen to anyone. domestic final which Djurgården won 2-0. UKRAINE Matjaz Krajnik An interesting footnote is that the success- ful clubs Åtvidaberg and Djurgården estab- Aiming high in coach education lished a joint project for the development On 8 November, the first group of talented players last year. of Ukrainian coaches aspiring to obtain SWEDEN The Swedish entrants in the UEFA the national stage I coaching certificate and competitions in 2006/07 will be Djurgår- the UEFA Pro diploma started their course dens IF (Champions League), league run- at the licensing centre of the Football Feder- Åtvidabergs FF are back ners-up IFK Göteborg (UEFA Cup), cup ation of Ukraine (FFU). The group includes A classic Swedish club is set for runners-up Åtvidabergs FF (UEFA Cup) and a remarkable comeback on the European third-place club in the league Kalmar FF scene next season. (Intertoto Cup). Gefle IF were the winners In the early 1970s Åtvidabergs FF, of the national fair play competition this a club from a minor industrial community season. supported by the local Facit factory, left The 2006/07 UEFA Women’s Cup their mark on top European football, hav- will see the return of former European club ing built an outstanding team with an champions Umeå IK after a year’s absence. Umeå had the chance to claim the double but lost out in the cup final against Djur- gården/Älvsjö. Thomas Saleteg FFU Top Ukrainian sports officials. TURKEY national-team coaches Oleg Blokhin, and Semen Altman (Chernomo- New cup format rets Odesa), as well as leading club coaches European Under-17 champions Yevgen Kucherevskyi, Viacheslav Groznyi Turkey team finished fourth in the U-17 (Metalurg FC, Zaporizhzhia), Anatoliy World Championship in Peru. The Turkish Konkov (Inter FC, Baku), BILDBYRÅN side were really unlucky in the semi-finals, (Shakhtar FC, Donetsk), Pavlo Yakovenko losing to Brazil by a close 4-3 margin. (Khimki FC, Russia), Oleg Protasov (Steaua In the match for third place and bronze Bucharest), Gennady Lytovchenko (FC Khar- kiv) and Oleg Luzhnyi (Arsenal), among A headed goal from Toni Kuivasto (Djurgarden) medal, the Netherlands got the better of in the final of the Swedish Cup. the team which had beaten them in the others. At the same time, a group of European Under-17 Championship final in coaches from professional teams (Ukrainian attractive attacking style and capturing Italy in May, beating Turkey 2-1. top league, league I and league II) recently two league titles and two domestic cup On a brighter note, Nuri Sahin and obtained their national stage I certificates victories. On top of that, the 1974 Swedish Tevfik Köse received awards for their excep- and UEFA A diplomas. World Cup team was built around seven tional performances in the championship. At the end of September, at a sem- of the club’s players. As a result, Nuri Sahin, who plays for Borus- inar/conference organised by the Ukrainian Åtvidaberg made five appear- sia Dortmund, has made his first appear- national Olympic committee, Grygoriy Surkis, ances in European competitions, reaching ance for the senior national team, playing president of the FFU, made a proposal to the quarter-finals twice (European Cup in for four minutes of the friendly match the NOC and the ministry of youth and 1974/75 and European Cup Winners’ Cup against Germany and even scoring Turkey’s sports for the construction of an Olympic in 1971/72). In 1973/74 ÅFF defeated second goal. sports complex. The project has already Bayern Munich 3-1 at home, thereby taking In other news, the Turkish FA has been approved by the FFU, and Mr Surkis the European champions-to-be that season launched a new sponsorship deal with is certain that unless such facilities are pro- into a penalty shoot-out. During that period, IDDAA, the official betting company in vided in the near future, it will be practically top clubs scouting for talent would find Turkey. The deal also consists of a bet fair impossible to hold major international their way to the small village in the woods, agreement. If a match is thought to be sports tournaments in Ukraine. which numbers less than 8,000 inhabitants manipulated, IDDAA will close the betting Valeriy Nykonenko

22 uefadirect 12.05 Communications ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● UEFA alsoextends half-century Programmes Committee, reaches the (Albania), memberoftheAssistance Panel onthe31st. SulejmanStarova tria), memberoftheReferee Observers on the28thandHorstBrummeier(Aus- ber oftheReferee Instructors Panel, 60, asdoAgneta Björck (Sweden),mem- of theFIFA Executive Committee, turns D’Hooghe (Belgium),European member 29 December. On8December, Michel mittee, celebrates his70thbirthday on of theYouth &Amateur Football Com- Yevgeniy Shuntov (Belarus),member Birthdays WE CAREABOUTFOOTBALL uoéne efootball de européennes associations des Union Official publicationofthe Communications andPublicAffairsDivision (Faroe Islands,23.12) (Spain, 3.12) Paul Evans(Wales, 27.12) Dusan Tittel (Slovakia, 27.12) Gennaro Mazzei(Italy, 27.12) Guy Goethals(Belgium,26.12) Tommy Theorin(Sweden,25.12) Torleif Sigurdsson Ivan Nemeckay (Slovakia, 18.12) Rainer Koch (Germany, 18.12) Hansruedi Hasler(Switzerland,18.12) Karel Vertongen (Belgium,17.12) Noel White (England,16.12) Allan Simonsen(Faroe Islands,15.12) Gilberto Madaíl(Portugal, 14.12) Kaj Natri (Finland, 13.12) Claus Rode Jensen(Denmark,11.12) Rakhat Aliyev (Kazakhstan, 10.12) Les Reed (England,9.12) Wolfgang Riedel(Germany, 9.12) George E.Douglas(Scotland,8.12) Andrea Manzella(Italy, 8.12) Andreas Akkelides (Cyprus,7.12) Franco Carraro (Italy, 6.12) Miklos Nagy (Hungary, 6.12) Leszek Rylski(Poland, 6.12) Maurizio Montironi (SanMarino,5.12) Alan Hodson(England,5.12) Gunter A.Pilz(Germany, 5.12) Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin Wolfgang Wassmund (Germany, 1.12) mark on12 December. birthday greetings to: Birthdays –Calendar

??????????????? Upcoming events ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● (match day 5) UEFA Cup:group matches Club World Championship group matches(matchday 6) UEFA ChampionsLeague: (matchday 4) UEFA Cup:group matches UEFA Cup and therounds of 32 and16 ofthe of theUEFA ChampionsLeague Draws for thefirstknock-out stage Executive Committee Club CompetitionsCommittee Draw for the2006World Cupfinals and Under-19 Championships of the2006/07European Under-17 Draws for thequalifying rounds Editorial deadline: Printed by Produced by Editor (Turkey, 30.12) David Findlay (Scotland,31.12) Eugeniusz Kolator (Poland, 31.12) Jean Fournet-Fayard (France, 31.12) Mehmet Aydin Torunoglu Wolfgang Thierrichter (Austria, 30.12) Berti Vogts (Germany, 30.12) Einar Halle(Norway, 29.12) Martial Saugy(Switzerland,28.12) Gordon Taylor (England,28.12) Bernard Carrel (Switzerland,28.12) 14-15.12.2005 11-18.12.2005, Japan 6-7.12.2005 1.12.2005 COMPETITIONS 16.12.2005, Nyon 15.12.2005, Nyon 12.12.2005, Nyon 9.12.2005, Leipzig 1.12.2005, Limassol MEETINGS André Vieli Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson Atema CommunicationSA, CH-1196 Gland 17 November 2005 agent’s licence. has decidedto give uphisUEFA match Johannes Korevaar a new phonenumber:+35317037500. ■ for afurtherfour-year term. Haralampie Hadzi-Risteski asitspr ■ of theCzechFA. ■ president. Mihaylov astheassociation’snew Bulgarian Football Unionelected Borislav ■ Communications details oftheirtop divisioncareers. tion alsocontainsa petition results. are national-team women’s football are Romanian Cupand cerned, aswell as statistics committee have justpublished The Romanian FA and anditshistory ROMÂNESC ANUARUL FOTBALULUI New publication Match agents The new mediadesknumber is: +41 848 0427 +41 848 01 27 (switchboard) +41 8480027 numbers are: The new mainphoneandfax Nyon hasnew contactnumbers. ■ The Football Association of Ireland has The FA ofFYRMacedoniahasre-elected hasbeenelectedPavel president Mokry congress ofthe The fifthordinary The UEFA Administration in source is indicated. is authorised,provided the published in or extracts ofany information The reproduction ofarticles official views ofUEFA. articles are notnecessarilythe The views expressed insigned each oftheseasonscon- Romanian divisionsfor league tablesofthetop contains theresults and This 600-pagework years from 2000to 2005. almanac, covering the Romanian football the ninthvolume ofthe The firstdivisionsec- the results ofthe and international com- Super Cup.Youth and (Netherlands) list ofplayers with also included,as uefadirect (fax) esident

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