No.114 – 12/2011 Final draw in

UEFADirect114_E.indd 1 16.12.11 11:10 2 Sur In the issue

UEFA EURO 2012 draw in Kyiv 4 The groups have been decided and the schedule set following the 2010–12 European Football Champion- ship fi nal draw in Kyiv at the beginning of December. Getty Images

Croatia eagerly awaiting UEFA EURO 7 Excitement is rapidly mounting in , with 12 teams on their way to compete in the fi nal round of the European Futsal Championship from 31 January. Zagreb

30 years of UEFA women’s football 8 The fi rst UEFA women’s competition – the predecessor of the European Women’s Championship – was launched in December 1981. Wagner/Bongarts/Getty Images Wagner/Bongarts/Getty

UEFA marketing awards 10 At a KISS workshop, UEFA presented new WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL awards to member associations that have Offi cial publication of the excelled themselves in the fi eld of marketing. Union des associations UEFA européennes de football

Chief editor : André Vieli Produced by : Executive Committee meeting in Venice 13 Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland Printing : Chaired by the UEFA president, , Artgraphic Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson the Executive Committee met in Venice for its last Editorial deadline : 9 December 2011 meeting of the year. UEFA

The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the offi cial views of UEFA. The reproduction of articles published in UEFA·direct is authorised, News from member associations 18 provided the source is indicated.

UEFA Route de Genève 46 Supplement CH-1260 The 12th issue of the UEFA·Grassroots Newsletter Tel. +41 848 00 27 27 brings you the latest trends and activities in grassroots Fax +41 848 01 27 27 www.UEFA.com football around Europe. [email protected]

Cover

The EURO-dressed Palace of Arts in Kyiv ready to host the group stage draw Photo: Sportsfi le

UEFADirect114_E.indd 2 16.12.11 11:10 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES SurtitreEditorial 3

May all our hopes and dreams

come true UEFA

he festive season is often a time for refl ection and remember this as we turn our hands to other major Treverie. It is also a time when we wish those challenges such as the establishment of fi nancial fair around us a happy new year and that all their hopes play in UEFA’s club competitions and the fi ght against and dreams may come true. match fi xing, violence and all forms of discrimination.

I am not going to break with tradition and therefore It is only in this way that our hopes and dreams can wish all our readers, and by extension all football come true. fans, a happy and peaceful 2012. Since it is our love of football that unites us, I also wish you many more Wishing you all the very best for 2012, magical moments like the UEFA Champions League fi nal we experienced at Wembley in May this year. The outlook for 2012 is promising, with the fi nal round of the European Football Championship top- Michel Platini ping the bill. As well as being the year’s headline act, UEFA President UEFA EURO 2012 will be the culmination of an undertaking that, for many, seemed like a pipedream, or a dream of sorts at least.

Until an event is over, we must of course take care not to be too optimistic. But what has already been achieved in the two host countries, and Ukraine, over the last few years is a lesson in perse- verance and tenacity. We owe it to ourselves to

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 3 16.12.11 11:10 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 4 UEFA EURO 2012 group stage draw

Since their strong performance at EURO 2008, Russia have gone through some changes. took Excitement the helm after they failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and has steered the Sbornaja through a relatively smooth EURO 2012 qualifying campaign. A lot can be expected of stars such as and Roman guaranteed Pavlyuchenko, but as is so often the case, the key will be how well the many talented individuals manage to work The 2010–12 European Football Championship fi nal as a team. The Czech Republic have experienced a draw was held in Kyiv on 2 December. period shifts and changes over the last few years, but their success in qualifying was an important step towards High-calibre groups were to be ex- greater stability. Coach Michal Bílek was also very happy pected, with no fewer than 7 of the with the fi nal draw and the fact that all their group matches 16 participating teams among the will be in Wroclaw, close to home. After a convincing top 10 in the FIFA world . win against in the play-offs it is now up to And the draw more than lived up to Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky and Co. to keep that smile on expectations. Which teams make it their coach’s face. all the way is anybody’s guess, but the route to the fi nal will be an exciting one, that much is GROUP B – Clash of the titans guaranteed. After the draw, opinions were unanimous that this is the toughest of all the groups. Runners-up in South Africa, the seem to have maintained their World Cup form. With the help of the qualifying competition’s most prolifi c goalscorer, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (12 goals), they overcame a tricky group with relative ease. The Oranje are defi nitely one of the tournament’s fi rm favourites, but Bert van Maarwijk and his team must focus on surviving the group stage before setting their sights any higher. Their second match, against arch-rivals Germany, could be decisive. The European Championship record holders have reached six of the last ten fi nal rounds and have lifted the trophy more times than anyone else. They made qualifying for EURO 2012 look like a walk in the park, winning every one of their matches, and although the group stage will be far from easy, Joachim Löw has every position covered and it is hard to imagine his team not making it to the quarter-fi nals at least. As they often seem to, Portugal had a hard time of it The coaches in qualifying, but in their spectacular 6-2 second-leg win in Group A: GROUP A – The unpredictables against in the play-offs they Michal Bílek (Czech In this group the race for the two quarter-fi nal slots is also showed that they generally manage to rise to the Republic), likely to be a very open one. Co-hosts Poland, with occasion when it counts. Finalists at EURO 2004, there Dick Advocaat striker , have been drawn against (Russia), three former European champions. For ’s Fernando Santos () team, the big question is whether or not they will be and Franciszek ready after two and a half years without a competitive Smuda (Poland) match. They have made a good impression in their friendlies to date, but for a real insight into their potential we must await their fi rst group match, when Poland open the tournament against Greece. The 2004 European champions are also something of an unknown quantity. After a disappointing EURO 2008 and since Portugal’s Fernando Santos took over from , the team has been rejuvenated. In qualifying they let virtually nothing get in their way and remained undefeated to secure top spot in their group, suggesting that captain Georgios Karagounis and his team-mates have every Group B, with Joachim Löw (Germany), (Denmark), reason to set their sights on a place in the knockout stage. Paulo Bento (Portugal) and (Netherlands)

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is no denying that Paulo Bento’s boys are capable of mak- ing legend was less than thrilled about the draw and ing it past the group stage, something they have not failed the prospect of a head-to-head with his homeland. It to do so since 2002. After a recent slump, Denmark will be exciting to see whether and his fi nally seem to be back on form and beat both Portugal team-mates manage to make the most of their underdog and Norway in the battle for fi rst place in their qualifying status. group. Long-serving coach Morten Olsen has built up a young, dynamic and defensively strong team whose no-frills GROUP D – Open fi eld game can create diffi culties for any opponent. Never- The lineup here is similar to that of Group A: the hosts theless, his “Danish Dynamite” have a tough task ahead. are the biggest unknown quantity, but even the other three teams are hard to get a handle on. EURO 2012 GROUP C – Clear typecasting will be Ukraine’s fi rst ever European fi nal tournament. In no other group is the casting as clearly defi ned as Coached by and led by old hands Ana- here. World and European champions Spain have over- toliy Tymoshchuk and , they started come any tournament stage fright they may once have off with mixed results in preparation for the tournament suffered and are clearly one of the fi rm favourites. Apart but have put in some good performances of late. Their fi rst match, against Sweden, will be an extremely impor- tant one. England made it almost effortlessly through qualifying and are certainly among the favourites, al- though the missed out on EURO 2008 alto- gether and have never made it to a European Cham- pionship fi nal. It will be interesting to see how Italian coach will prepare England, who are not considered a tournament team, and whether he will be able to compensate for , suspended for the fi rst two of their three group games.

Slaven Bilic (Croatia), (Republic of ), () and (Spain) have been drawn together in Group C

from Germany, they were the only team not to drop a point in qualifying. No opponents at present are able to thwart the Spaniards’ passing game and stop them dic- tating the tempo, meaning La Roja will be an extremely le hard nut to crack. Four-time World champions Italy, meanwhile, snuck through qualifying but very convinc-

ingly so. Coach Cesare Prandelli is currently without any Photos: Sportsfi individual megastars, but this need not be a disadvan- tage – quite the opposite in fact. The question for the Squadra Azzurra is whether they can fi nally live up to Group D: their reputation as a tournament team at another Euro- Sweden qualifi ed directly for EURO 2012 as best Oleg Blokhin (Ukraine), pean Championship. runners-up and have become regulars at major fi nal tour- Erik Hamren The fact that the favourites, Spain and Italy, face one naments. They have yet to hit the jackpot though, despite (Sweden), another fi rst could play into the hands of the other two time and again producing outstanding players such as teams in Group C. Croatia were forced into the play-offs Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With every position well covered, (France) and Fabio Capello en route to the fi nals, but the 1998 World Cup bronze will Erik Hamren manage to take his team to glory? (England) medallists made sure their opponents, Turkey, barely Instead of riches, with France Laurent Blanc was faced stood a chance. Slaven Bilic has a healthy mix of youth with ruins after a disastrous 2010 World Cup. But he and experience on his squad, which is well represented was quick to tap the country’s near bottomless talent at Europe’s top clubs and more than capable of wrong- pool, getting some new, highly motivated players such footing one of the favourites. Having been unlucky to miss as Loic Rémy on board and taking the direct route out on the 2010 World Cup, the Republic of Ireland’s through qualifying. For Les Bleus anything is possible, qualifi cation for EURO 2012 – their fi rst for a major depending on how tight-knit the new team has become tournament since 2002 – must have been hugely gratify- and what form is shown by leading lights such as Franck ing for Giovanni Trapattoni. That said, the Italian coach- Ribéry and . ●

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 5 16.12.11 11:10 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 6 Draw in Kyiv Behind the scenes

With the UEFA EURO 2012 draw completed, the teams can start their fi nal preparations for next summer’s tournament and fans can start looking forward to it in earnest.

ut what of the draw itself? It may have been over at the Palace of Arts for the ceremony. There were fl ash Bin an hour, but it was the product of detailed prepara- interviews with the coaches after the draw and two tion, not least in the week leading up to the event in Kyiv behind the scenes crews exploring Kyiv and covering on 2 December. The Palace of Arts was transformed; the build-up to the event all week. The draw featured noticeable changes were made inside the venue and out- representatives from each of the teams that have previ- side. EURO-branded banners – one of which featured a ously won a European Football Championship – with depiction of the Henri De- launay Cup – were draped over the front the building, Some former winners while press conference on stage at the draw ceremony areas, a dedicated media floor and security entry points were set up. Images of past tournaments, fans from the two host nations and EURO heroes adorned the welcome area and all six fl oors of the building.

Full coverage As the great and the e le le le le l good of European football file fi sfi tsfi tsfi

filtered into the Ukrainian p SportsfiSpor

capital, the event received le full coverage on UEFA.com. There was coverage of Sportsfi the offi cial unveiling of the match ball for the tournament, the Tango 12, and the likes of , and the opening press conference with the UEFA general sec- Zinédine Zidane helping to pick the balls – and many retary, , the president of the Football of these 13 “legends” also took part in fi lmed inter- Federation of Ukraine (FFU), Grigoriy Surkis, and the views. Polish Football Federation (PZPN) president, . There was also the announcement that UEFA EURO Hive of activity 2012’s offi cial song will be performed by Oceana, A crew of 90 set up the stage where the draw took behind the scenes articles giving a fl avour of Kyiv and place, making sure the lighting and sound were just live coverage of the event itself in UEFA.com’s new right, and an additional 50 UEFA staff – in particular DrawCentre, followed by full reaction. from the competitions and event operations division – Seventy UEFA host broadcast staff – including produc- contributed to the smooth running of the event. There tion, technical, operations and satellite news gathering was also plenty of local expertise utilised, with 55 local (SNG) specialists – were directly involved in televising organising committee representatives from Ukraine and the draw. The TV compound itself measured 2,100 21 from Poland, as well as 260 volunteers – all ensuring square metres and 3 host broadcasting trucks, plus every detail was covered. 12 unilateral ones (including SNG vehicles), helped On the day of the draw itself, the Palace of Arts was beam pictures around the world. Around 10km of cabling a hive of activity as the guests and all 16 national team was used in the host broadcasting effort – a fi gure that coaches arrived along with the 330 media and 50 doubles when the unilateral elements and IT require- photographers who covered proceedings. With the last ments are taken into account. balls picked, the Palace of Arts could begin its transfor- In addition, interviews with some of the 650 VIP mation back into its natural state, with the 14th European guests – including Fabio Capello, Vicente del Bosque Football Championship fi nals in Poland and Ukraine a and Christian Karembeu – were fi lmed as they arrived big step closer. ●

UEFADirect114_E.indd 6 16.12.11 11:10 European Futsal Championship 7 Huge interest in Croatia

There is no doubt that the Futsal EURO 2012 in Croatia will generate enormous interest not only at home, but also among the foreign public and media. With great confi dence, Croatia is looking forward to the most well-attended tournament in the history of indoor football.

Futsal has defi nitely become one of the most In Group A, alongside Croatia, led by head coach popular branches of football and we are Mato Stankovic, are the Czechs and Romanians; Group confi dent that the forthcoming fi nal round, B contains Spain, Slovenia and Ukraine; Group C Italy, contested by the best teams in Europe, will Russia and Turkey; and Group D Portugal, Serbia and prove it. There are a lot of reasons for our Azerbaijan. The top two teams from each group will optimism. All activities linked to the organi- qualify for the quarter-fi nals. sation of the tournament have been carried The tournament kicks off out according to plan and on schedule. The in at the Zagreb Arena, with Split and Zagreb are simply fantastic, the ticket prices the opening match, Spain v are very reasonable, and the hosts are raring to go. Slovenia, at 18.00 on 31 Also, the signifi cance of the Croatian national football January. The home team team’s success and their qualifi cation for EURO 2012 in will play their fi rst match the Ukraine and Poland should not be overlooked, as it will same day, kicking off at signifi cantly increase the interest of the Croats, unique 21.00 against at football lovers, and their desire to spend a couple of the Spaladium Arena in

winter weeks enjoying some top-class indoor football Split. The capacity of both Spaladium Arena ahead of the summer’s outdoor extravaganza. arenas is over 10,000. The Spaladium The promoters of the Futsal EURO 2012, Davor Šuker Arena in Split More than a game and , were members of Croatia’s bronze- This is the fi rst time in its short history as an independ- medallist team at the 1998 World Cup in France, ent state that Croatia is hosting a major UEFA event, and together with the current head coach of the Croatian for this reason alone everyone involved in its organisa- national team, Slaven Bilic. This trio symbolically bought tion is determined to show off Croatia to Europe and the the fi rst batch of tickets for the tournament. world from 31 January until 11 Febru- ary. That means presenting the coun- try in its true light, not only as organis- ers and brilliant hosts, but also as a sport-loving country where football is more than a game, more than just a sport. This is also a great opportunity to look back on Croatia’s futsal history. Big tournaments have been organ- ised in Zagreb and Split for a number of years now. Take Kutija šibica, a tournament which has been played since 1971, with 648 teams partici- pating in its 15th edition in 1985. The Torcida Cup, played in Split, is

no less reputable and also extremely M. Hegedic popular. This is not overly surprising, The ZagrebZagreb given that futsal is actually the oldest form of football in Arena, venue Croatia, although initially it was more of an improvised With everything set and what promises to be a great for the opening game. The country’s fi rst championship match was played Futsal EURO 2012 just around the corner, in the words match on in 1921 on the Pelješac peninsula. of the president of the Croatian Football Federation, 31 January. Vlatko Markovic: “We wish all the participants the best The four groups of luck. May the tournament be played in the spirit of fair Twelve teams are taking part in the Futsal EURO 2012, play – a symbol and value of this noble game – and as all of them from among the world’s elite. For the group a result, may the best team win.” ● stage, they have been drawn into four groups of three. Davor Gavran, press offi cer

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 7 16.12.11 11:10 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 8 Women’s football Thirty years of UEFA competition

“To judge by the enormous growth in women’s football and the booming interest shown in this sector of the game by various national associations, the new competition will become a reality next year.”

ith these words, contained in his end-of-year mes- the committee laid down the basic conditions for a com- Wsage published in the UEFA Offi cial Bulletin of petition: it should not be compulsory, would only be December 1981, the then UEFA president, Artemio organised if at least 12 of the 34 member associations Franchi, announced the launch of UEFA’s fi rst women’s took part and should comprise regional groups in order football competition, reserved for national teams. to limit travel costs.

Sowing the seed The green light The idea of a women’s competition had originated in At its meeting in Prague on 22 September 1981, the Zurich in February 1980, at a conference on women’s Executive Committee gave the green light to the competi- football attended by half of UEFA’s member associations tion, which had an annual budget of CHF 25,000 and at the time (17 out of 34). It was then discussed at the regulations based on those of the Under-16 men’s com- Ordinary UEFA Congress in Rome on 21 June that year, petition. Invitations to participate in the event were sent at the initiative of Danish delegate Carl Nielsen, speak- in December that year. Sixteen associations accepted, ing on behalf of the Scandinavian associations. This led i.e. four more than the number required. Split into four to the creation of a women’s football committee (the fi rst groups of four, they played their fi rst matches in August such committee, set up in 1971, had been dissolved 1982, with Finland and Sweden contesting the inaugural two years previously due to lack of interest). The commit- fi xture on 18 August. tee’s main task was to ensure that the national associa- tions themselves took control of women’s football, which Penalties to designate the fi rst winners was still far from being the case in many countries. At its The Swedes, who won that opening match 6-0, went fi rst meeting in Zurich in March 1981, with Belgian on to reach the fi nal, a two-legged encounter against Executive Committee member Louis Wouters in the chair, England in spring 1984. They won the fi rst leg 1-0 in Gothenburg on 12 May, but England won by the same scoreline in London a fortnight later. With no further goals in extra time, Sweden won 4-3 on penalties to become the fi rst winners. The competition ac- quired European Cham- pionship status in 1989. Forty-fi ve national associ- ations are taking part in the 2011-13 European Women’s Championship, which will culminate in Sweden in July 2013. ●

Sweden, winners in 1984 of the fi rst UEFA women’s football competition Empics Sport

UEFADirect114_E.indd 8 16.12.11 11:11 2011–13 Women’s European Championship 9 Strong start to qualifying The 38 teams competing in the qualifying stage of the 2011–13 Women’s European Championship will resume play in February 2012.

Of these 38, 12 remain unbeaten: Italy (Group 1), Spain and Germany (Group 2), Iceland (Group 3), France and (Group 4), and Finland (Group 5), the Nether- lands and England (Group 6), and Denmark and the Czech Republic (Group 7). The qualifying competition will last until Sep- tember next year, after which the winners of the seven Martinez/Bongarts/Getty Images groups and the single best runners-up will automatically With Spain and Germany having drawn 2-2 in November, both teams qualify for the fi nal round, to be held from 10 to 28 July remain unbeaten in Group 2 of the European Women’s Championship 2013. The other six runners-up will compete in play-offs qualifying competition for the last three places in the fi nals, which will also include hosts Sweden. ● UEFA Women’s Champions League KISS programme Quarter-fi nal draw Women’s football The 54 clubs who lined up in the starting blocks for the 2011/12 UEFA Women’s Champions League workshop have been whittled down to eight, representing the six To coincide with the draws for the UEFA national associations of Germany and Sweden (two Women’s Champions League quarter- and clubs apiece), England, Denmark, France and Russia. semi-fi nals, and the recent UEFA youth competition draws, a workshop was held for club and Alongside the title holders, Olympique national association representatives. Lyonnais, three other competition winners are still in the running: 1. FFC Frankfurt, he aim of this workshop, held under the umbrella of three-time champions (in 2002, 2006 TUEFA’s Knowledge and Information Sharing Scenario, and 2008), 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, or KISS programme, was to discuss ways of further winners in 2005 and 2010, and Arsenal boosting women’s football and maintaining the momen- Ladies FC, who lifted the trophy in 2007. None of them tum of its spectacular rise. To this end, many tools were are going head to head in the quarter-fi nals, for which proposed at the workshop, including appropriate fund- a draw at the House of European Football in Nyon, ing and effective provisions within the club licensing sys- Switzerland, on 17 November established the following tem, taking into account the differing levels of develop- lineup: ment seen from one association to the next. 1. FC Malmö v 1. FFC Frankfurt The meeting highlighted the crucial role played by clubs 2. Olympique Lyonnais v Brøndby IF in the evolution of women’s football and the importance, 3. 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam v FC Rossiyanka therefore, of establishing strong clubs that are in a posi- 4. Arsenal LFC v Göteborg FC tion to provide young players with good conditions for training and development. These quarter-fi nals will be played on 14/15 March The representatives of three national associations – (fi rst legs) and 21/22 March (return legs). Then, the win- England, Germany and Finland – each made presenta- ners of matches 2 and 3 will meet in the semi-fi nals, as tions. England discussed the importance of its Women’s will the winners of matches 4 and 1. The fi rst legs will be Super League, Germany highlighted the need for a played on 14/15 April, and the return legs on 21/22 vision, clear objectives and ideas for effective develop- April. ment, and Finland presented the positive effects of a The fi nal, now played in the same week and city as long-term strategy as one of the reasons women’s foot- the men’s Champions League fi nal, is being held in ball is as popular as it now is in Finland. ● Munich on Thursday 17 May. ●

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 9 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 10 Development programmes KISS workshop in Paris celebrates marketing excellence

UEFA’s Knowledge and Information Sharing Scenario (KISS) team went to Paris on 24 and 25 November to hold its latest marketing workshop for UEFA member associations.

he programme included a wide range of marketing DBU organised a noisy crowd of supporters, music, na- Tcase studies presented by the football associations of tional team jerseys, advertising boards – and senior na- Wales, Malta, Slovakia and Finland. From outside the tional team player Martin Jørgensen, who acted as the football family, delegates heard from the organisers of match mascot and ball carrier. The resulting video, the 2012 London Olympics, who talked about their “fan launched on YouTube, registered 90,852 hits in the fi rst experience” plans for next year’s Games, while the Inter- 24 hours, half a million hits within a week, and listings national Rugby Board gave a debriefi ng on its 2011 in more than 40 countries. Facebook had 10,000 Rugby World Cup commercial activities and Google shared video links and thousands of tweets were sent demonstrated how to get the best out of its new social through Twitter. The element of surprise was the making media platform, Google Plus. Returning to football, of the video – producing such genuine reactions from the France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel presented its young players – but the distribution via social media plat- marketing concept for the French League Cup. forms was also fresh and courageous, and resulted in The Paris workshop also introduced a new initiative worldwide recognition. You can watch the video on aimed at celebrating marketing excellence. Marketing is YouTube by typing “The Football Feeling” in the site’s part and parcel of football, simply because it can give a search engine. national football team, a club or a fan base an identity – and in a perfect world it can unite all these elements to Best Loyalty Programme: create a bigger picture and shared values. UEFA’s mem- French Football Federation (FFF) bers excel in this respect and for the fi rst time KISS has The Emotion Bleue loyalty programme was launched recognised some of the most outstanding projects with by the FFF on 29 March 2011. It is specifi c to the men’s, KISS marketing awards. Here is a selection of the win- women’s and youth national teams. The priorities are to ners and their stories. recognise, reward and secure the loyalty of the fans, develop the FFF’s image and business relations, as well Best Social Media Campaign: as increase customer knowledge through interaction Danish Football Association (DBU) between the FFF and fans. This is a new approach by The Football Feeling video fi lmed by the DBU was the FFF because it is entirely built on fan support and a part of an international promotion campaign for the two-way communication fl ow. Also essential to the European Under-21 Championship fi nal round held in project is the partnership and support of the sponsors, Denmark this year. The strategy for the video was ingen- which not only increase their own visibility, but also The six ious: to turn an everyday Under-15 football match into a extend awareness of the programme to a much wider UEFA award major competition match. With no prior warning, the audience and encourage increased membership, which winners is currently at an all-timeall time high of 40,000. UEFA wishes the FFF every success with this programme, which is UEFA

UEFADirect114_E.indd 10 16.12.11 11:11 11

innovative and has created an almost intimate link between them and the fans of their national teams.

Best Brand Strategy: Football Association of Wales (FAW) of Wales had a straightfor- ward but challenging goal: to put even more passion and fi re into the national game. It was not so much an image overhaul, but the actual creation of a new and invigorating FAW brand to capture the spirit of Welsh football. The FAW launched its new brand to coincide with the Wales v England UEFA EURO 2012 qualifi er played at the Millennium Stadium in on 26 March 2011. An extensive communications campaign delivered a stadium full to capacity (72,000 spectators). Also sold out was the newly branded FAW hospitality

club, known as Club 1876 to commemorate the year DBU the FAW was founded. The FAW membership scheme The Danish has since welcomed an additional 50,000 members. that sponsorship should not only apply to the elite but video for the The overwhelming reaction and genuine excitement can also nurture the sport from the grassroots up, promot- Under-21 fi nal round among fans as a result of the association’s efforts clearly ing football for everyone. In fact, the benefits even was a real hit show that Wales is a nation that cherishes its national extend outside the football family to a better all-round game, as well as its football association. understanding of energy saving.

Best Sponsorship Activation: Best Fan Promotion: Swedish Football Association (SvFF) The Football Association (The FA) Energifonden (Energy Fund) is a joint programme The England Fan Fair was a joint venture by The FA created by the Swedish FA and national energy provider and the lead England sponsor, Vauxhall. This initiative E.On. The Swedish FA encourages the development of took place before the England v Wales UEFA EURO football clubs at grassroots level in more rural areas of 2012 qualifi er on 6 September 2011. The fi ve-a-side the country. Initially its work focused on infrastructure de- centre just outside was converted into velopment, but in time it became clear that operating a fan zone for three hours ahead of the match. The event costs, and in particular electricity, were making it hard to was by invitation to ticket holders, with a special focus achieve the goal of having a club in every village. Finan- on the stadium’s family enclosure to enable children to cially, some smaller clubs found it diffi cult to make ends absorb the pre-match atmosphere as well as a wide meet. So the association and E.On put their heads to- range of exciting activities, including speed-kick, face- gether and the Energy Fund was born. To date, it has painting, infl atable pitches, competitions, street dancing, sponsored some 113 clubs, many of which estimate an England fan membership registration and a photo op- annual energy saving of 40 to 50%. This means more portunity with England coach Fabio Capello to name but resources for player and club development. And be- a few. Just over 1,500 fans visited the fan zone, with cause of reduced costs, some clubs can stay open to 92% naming the brand connection to Vauxhall unprompted their communities throughout the winter months. This is a and 84% saying that the pre-match experience had resounding success for Swedish football, and it shows been stimulated by the event. This is a simple and effi - cient example of a member association working hand in The following football associations hand with a sponsor to unite fans, while at the same time also received special mention: achieving heightened exposure among their respective ● Ger man Football Association (DFB) for its initiatives audiences. in referee loyalty and women’s football develop- ment. Special Award from the jury: ● Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) for Polish Football Association (PZPN) its innovative approach to the segmentation of its tar- In recognition of new initiative and creativity, the jury get group. presented a special award to the Polish Football Asso- ● Israel Football Association (IFA) for its integrated ciation. Its remarkable progress towards a new brand marketing campaign set to music. concept, as well as the development of a loyalty pro- ● Football Association of Ireland (FAI) for the most pro- fessional and high-level marketing awards entry and gramme for fans, deserves special acknowledgement for the enthusiasm with which it has embraced the and credit. Marketing is a newer focus for the Polish FA UEFA KISS marketing awards initiative. and its efforts have resulted in two very successful market- ing projects. ●

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 11 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 12 European matters A resolution for the protection of the game European Parliament supports all UEFA’s key aims in the fi ght against match fi xing.

he European Parliament approved a resolution on online sports organisations and relevant public bodies. Impor- Tbetting at its plenary session in Strasbourg on 15 Novem- tantly, it also recognises the added value an EU-wide ber. The resolution gave a signifi cant boost to UEFA’s approach can have in the area of online betting. It spe- efforts to combat match fi xing in football and backed all of cifi cally recommends penalising betting fraud as a crimi- UEFA’s key aims in the areas of betting and match fi xing. nal offence throughout Europe. The European Parliament’s resolution on online gam- Support of UEFA’s efforts bling calls for the recognition of sports bodies’ property The resolution, which includes many points on sport, is rights to their competitions through a fair fi nancial return based on the Creutzmann Report on Online Gambling in from betting operators. France is the fi rst country in the Internal Market, named after its author, German MEP Europe to have enshrined this right in law. Ultimately, this Jürgen Creutzmann. This European Parliament resolution property right ensures cooperation between sports com- is not legally binding on EU member states but it supports petition organisers and betting operators, which in turn UEFA’s efforts to protect the integrity of sport and ensure a leads to more transparency, improves monitoring and “fair return” for sport in the context of betting. control mechanisms, and can help to fi ght money laun- The fi nal text can be regarded as a success for UEFA. dering through betting. This is despite the initial report having been subjected to heavy lobbying by the gambling industry, which was General support against the recognition of sports bodies’ intellectual All EU institutions have now shown support for UEFA’s property rights to their own competitions, the so-called fi ght against match fi xing. The European Commission “betting right”. The betting industry was also against adopted a Green Paper on Online Gambling in the legally binding agreements between betting operators Internal Market in March, which launched a consultation and sports competition organisers. process on match fi xing, among other things. The resolu- tion voted through by the MEPs in November represents Protection of the integrity of sport the European Parliament’s position on the Commission’s The resolution calls for measures to protect the integ- green paper. Combating match fi xing was also included rity of sport through cross-border cooperation between in the Council of Ministers’ conclusions last month. ●

The European Parliament in session in

Strasbourg Florin/AFP

UEFADirect114_E.indd 12 16.12.11 11:11 Executive Committee 13 Sixteen-team Women’s EURO On 8 December in Venice, the Executive Committee convened for its last meeting of the year, chaired by the UEFA president, Michel Platini.

ollowing up on the strategy meeting with the presi- to general running costs and a €1,025,000 incentive Fdents and general secretaries of UEFA’s member payment for participating in UEFA’s youth, women’s and associations, held in in September, the Executive futsal competitions, for applying and implementing the Committee took some decisions about the future of UEFA club licensing system and the UEFA charters and UEFA’s competitions. For example, it decided to enlarge the fi eld for the European Women’s Championship fi nal round from 12 to 16 as of 2017. It also decided to double the number of teams involved in the European Women’s Under-17 Championship fi nal round, meaning the current four-team tournament will be expanded to eight in 2014. The national associations will also be invited to host the tournament, which until now has always been organised by the UEFA adminis- tration at the Colovray stadium in Nyon. The Executive Committee entrusted the Royal Belgian Football Association with the organisation of the European Futsal Champi- onship fi nal round in 2014, which will once again involve a fi eld of 12 teams. As regards EURO 2012, meanwhile, the Executive Committee took note of the

progress seen in terms of stadiums, transport UEFA and accommodation, and approved a new provision in the competition regulations concerning conventions on grassroots football, coach education and abandoned matches. If a match must be abandoned for referee education and organisation, for implementing whatever reason, it will be resumed the next day, when the UEFA good governance programme and for appoint- only the time remaining will be played (instead of replay- ing an integrity offi cer. ing the whole match), except in cases brought before the disciplinary bodies. Also, in preparation for the tourna- Social dialogue ment, participating teams will have the right to play one The Executive Committee also approved an autonomous single match against another participating team in the agreement on minimum requirements for professional 30 days before the opening match, but only if they have players’ contracts. UEFA, the Association of European not been drawn together for the group stage. Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), the European Club Association (ECA) and Europe’s professional players’ HatTrick III union (FIFPro, division Europe) are all parties to the The HatTrick assistance programme enters its third agreement, which will be presented to the UEFA Con- cycle in 2012. Covering four seasons, HatTrick III will run gress for fi nal approval in in March and is until 2016. For this new cycle, the Executive Committee expected be signed by all parties in in April, approved revised regulations which defi ne, among other in the presence of the European Commission. things, the maximum amounts available to the national Regarding the forthcoming UEFA Congress in Istanbul associations. Each can apply for a total of €3 million on 22 March, the Executive Committee took note of the during the cycle to fi nance investment projects (social or provisional agenda and programme and agreed on grassroots) with the aim of developing the game in their the changes to the UEFA Statutes that will be submitted respective countries. In addition, up to €1,625,000 a to the delegates for approval. It also gave the green light year will be available to each association and paid in to UEFA’s annual accounts for 2010/11 as these too the form of a €600,000 solidarity payment to contribute must be approved by the UEFA Congress in March. ●

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 13 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 14 Youth competitions Draws in Nyon

The fi rst qualifying round of the 2012/13 European Women’s Under-19 Championship UEFA will be played from 20 to 25 October 2012. Clarisse Le Bihan (U17) and Ramona Petzelberger (U19) received 2010/11 fair play awards on behalf of France and Germany respectively and participated in the women’s competition draws A draw held in Nyon on 15 November placed the 40 partici- European Women’s pating teams into the following ten groups of four: Under-17 Championship In the U17 category, the fi rst qualifying round of the 2011/12 European Championship has been completed and 2012/13 European Women’s U19 the 14 qualifi ers join Germany and the Netherlands in the four Championship – second-round groups drawn in Nyon on 15 November: First qualifying round Group 1: Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Cyprus, Latvia 2011/12 European Women’s U17 Group 2: Austria, Italy, Greece, Championship – Group 3: Ukraine, , , Croatia Group 4: Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Northern Ireland Second qualifying round Group 5: Norway, Scotland, Turkey, Belarus Group 1: Switzerland, England, Belgium, Iceland Group 6: Denmark, Iceland, Moldova, Slovakia Group 2: France, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Poland Group 7: Spain, Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria Group 3: Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland Group 8: Czech Republic, Portugal, Group 4: Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia Mini-tournament hosts in bold Group 9: Sweden, Russia, Slovenia, Azerbaijan Group 10: Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, Israel The matches in this second round will be held between Mini-tournament hosts in bold 19 March and 1 May 2012. The four group winners will then compete for the European title at the Colovray stadium in Nyon The top two teams in each group and the best third-placed from 26 to 29 June. The semi-fi nal draw has already been team will qualify for the second qualifying round, to be played made, with the winners of Groups 1 and 2 due to meet in one from 4 to 9 April 2013. semi-fi nal and the winners of Groups 3 and 4 in the other. Four other teams are participating in the competition: Meanwhile, a record 44 associations have entered the Wales, who will host the fi nal round from 19 to 31 August 2012/13 European Women’s Under-17 Championship. 2013 and are therefore exempted from the qualifying phase, The teams were split into 11 groups of 4 in another draw as well as Germany, France and England, who all received held at UEFA headquarters on 15 November: byes for the fi rst qualifying round thanks to their UEFA coeffi - cients. 2012/13 European Women’s U17 The teams from the same three associations also received Championship – First qualifying round byes in the 2011/12 edition and therefore joined the 21 teams who made the fi rst cut as they gathered for the second Group 1: Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Moldova round draw, which was also held on 15 November: Group 2: England, Italy, Northern Ireland, Israel Group 3: France, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2011/12 European Women’s U19 Lithuania Group 4: Czech Republic, Iceland, Estonia, Slovenia Championship – Second qualifying round Group 5: Denmark, Scotland, FYR Macedonia, Serbia Group 1: Norway, Czech Republic, Belgium, Portugal Group 6: Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Azerbaijan Group 2: Germany, Sweden, Poland, Northern Ireland Group 7: Germany, Russia, Greece, Romania Group 3: France, Iceland, Romania, Netherlands Group 8: Netherlands, Ukraine, Montenegro, Kazakhstan Group 4: Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Serbia Group 9: Republic of Ireland, Finland, Belarus, Group 5: Spain, Scotland, Italy, Russia Group 10: Norway, Wales, Latvia, Turkey Group 6: England, Austria, Finland, Wales Group 11: Spain, Poland, Faroe Islands, Slovakia Mini-tournament hosts in bold Mini-tournament hosts in bold

The matches will be played from 31 March to 5 April. The These group matches will be played between September six group winners and the best runner-up will participate in and November 2012. The group winners and the fi ve best the fi nal round in Turkey from 2 to 14 July, alongside the team of runners-up will qualify for the second qualifying round, to be the host association. played in April 2013.

UEFADirect114_E.indd 14 16.12.11 11:11 Men’s youth competitions 15 Four draws were held in Nyon on 29 November for the men’s Under-17 and Under-19 competitions. Group 5: Serbia, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Albania The 28 teams which qualifi ed for the elite round of the Group 6: Denmark, Scotland, Iceland, Lithuania 2011/12 European Under-19 Championship were drawn Group 7: Hungary, Russia, Belgium, Wales into the following seven groups: Mini-tournament hosts in bold The group winners qualify for the fi nal round, which will be held in Slovenia from 4 to 16 May 2012. 2011/12 European U19 Championship – Elite round Another draw held at UEFA headquarters on 29 November divided the 52 teams participating in the 2012/13 European Group 1: France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Norway Under-17 Championship qualifying round into 13 groups of 4: Group 2: England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Montenegro Group 3: Hungary, Germany, Romania, Serbia 2012/13 European U17 Championship – Group 4: Portugal, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Israel Qualifying round Group 5: Greece, Denmark, Turkey, Cyprus Group 6: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Austria Group 1: Belarus, Serbia, Moldova, Group 7: Spain, Belgium, Armenia, Italy Group 2: Finland, Germany, Andorra, San Marino Group 3: Belgium, Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia Mini-tournament hosts in bold Group 4: Spain, Poland, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria The seven group winners will participate in the fi nal round, Group 5: Greece, France, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to be held in Estonia from 3 to 15 July 2012. This fi nal phase Group 6: Austria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Faroe Islands will also determine which European teams will join Turkey, who Group 7: England, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Wales have qualifi ed as hosts, at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Group 8: Italy, Hungary, Albania, Liechtenstein Group 9: Norway, Portugal, Malta, Iceland The 2012/13 European Under-19 Championship qualify- Group 10: Republic of Ireland, Romania, Sweden, ing round will be played in autumn 2012. FYR Macedonia The 48 teams involved were drawn into the following 12 Group 11: Denmark, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Russia groups of 4: Group 12: Turkey, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Israel 2012/13 European U19 Championship – Group 13: Scotland, Georgia, , Ukraine Qualifying round Mini-tournament hosts in bold Group 1: Austria, Hungary, Andorra, Bulgaria The top two teams in each group and the best third-placed Group 2: Finland, Denmark, Montenegro, Cyprus team will qualify for the elite round. The fi nal round, involving Group 3: Poland, Netherlands, San Marino, Malta the seven elite round winners, will be held in Slovakia in May Group 4: Czech Republic, Greece, Northern Ireland, 2013. This fi nal tournament will determine the teams sent to represent Europe at the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in the Moldova ● Group 5: Germany, Republic of Ireland, FYR Macedonia, United Arab Emirates in 2013. Luxembourg Group 6: France, Portugal, Israel, Latvia Group 7: Belgium, Italy, Belarus, Albania SPAIN WIN MAURICE BURLAZ TROPHY Group 8: Slovakia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina Group 9: Scotland, Switzerland, Armenia, Romania The Maurice Burlaz Trophy, named after the former vice- Group 10: Wales, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia chairman of the UEFA Youth Committee, is awarded to the Group 11: Croatia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iceland national association that has achieved the best results in the Group 12: Ukraine, England, Faroe Islands, Estonia UEFA men’s Under-17 and Under-19 competitions over the Mini-tournament hosts in bolds last two seasons. Spain, fi nishing just ahead of England and France, have just won the trophy for the eighth time. The top two teams in each group and the best third-placed team will qualify for the elite round. Four other teams are participating in the competition: Lithuania, who qualify as hosts of the fi nal round in summer 2013, and Spain, Serbia and Turkey, who are exempted from this fi rst phase thanks to their UEFA coeffi cients. European Under-17 Championship In the U17 category, the draw on 29 November produced the following seven groups for the elite round, which will be played at the end of March 2012:

2011/12 European U17

Championship – Elite round UEFA Group 1: France, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland The chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Com- Group 2: Czech Republic, Belarus, Poland, Luxembourg mittee, Jim Boyce (centre), presented the trophy to Spain’s Group 3: Spain, England, Georgia, Ukraine Gines Melendez and Vicente Muñoz in Nyon. Group 4: Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 15 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 16 Prosecutors’ conference Fight against match fi xing

UEFA held a keynote conference in conjunction with the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) at the House of European Football on 24/25 November. The event theme was “kicking fraud out of sport”.

ffi cials from the IAP, UEFA and world football body “It is obvious that if the fans and children have the OFIFA came together with state prosecutors, anti- impression that the result of a match is known before the corruption offi cials and police offi cers. The agenda match starts, then this clearly affects the soul of football focussed on fraudulent activity within regulated sporting or any other sport,” he added. “We also need the help activities, with special emphasis on match fi xing and of the law enforcement agencies and authorities. We other criminal activity within football and other sports. need to work hand in hand, we have to act very strongly The topics discussed in Nyon included the prosecu- and in a united way.” ● tion of a match-fi xing case, legal frameworks relating to sports fraud, betting issues and cooperation between sports bodies and law enforcement agencies. Prize for contribution to football “The fi ght against match fi xing and corruption is cer- tainly the top priority for UEFA, the UEFA president and the UEFA Executive Committee in the years to come,” the UEFA president UEFA general secretary, Gianni Infantino, said. “It is our job to protect football, it is our responsibility to do what wins Facchetti prize we can against corruption, to fi ght against this cancer that we have to eradicate from football.” On 14 November in , Michel Platini received the International Prize, an award created in 2007 by the Italian daily La Gazzetta RESEARCH BITE dello Sport in memory of the former captain of FC Internazionale Milano and the Italian national team.

art of the work of the marketing research activities team Pwithin the UEFA administration consists of regularly monitoring audiences, gauging interest in sport, football and UEFA competitions, and asking fans for their impres- sions of the various events they attend or watch. The team’s latest fi ndings concern, for example:

● awareness of and interest in sports competitions (not just football) in 14 different markets, for an up-to-date overview of where major football competitions stand in comparison with other sports;

● the impact of sponsorship on brand perceptions;

● a comprehensive review of the European Under-21 Championship fi nal round, which took place in June

2011 in Denmark (who was there, where they came Fabio Bozzani from and what the fan experience was like); TheTh UEUEFAFA presidentid t withith GiovannaGi FacchettiF h tti anddI Internazionalet i l president ● awareness of and interest in the European Under-21 he prize was awarded to the UEFA president for his Championship fi nal round in seven European markets, contribution to football as both a player and a foot- where it stands in relation to other football competitions T ball administrator, with particular emphasis on his efforts and how it is perceived. to introduce fi nancial fair play. The research team will regularly share interesting fi ndings Together with the prize, the UEFA president received a €10,000 cheque, which he donated to the Stefano through the KISS research exchange platform and is ● Borgonovo Foundation, created three years ago by the available to provide further information. former ACF Fiorentina player to fund research into treat- ments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ●

UEFADirect114_E.indd 16 16.12.11 11:11 90 years of the national association 17 Estonian Football Association turns 90 Although 90 years have passed since the roots, futsal and , among other things. For founding of the Estonian Football Association all of this, the EJL has 35 full-time offi cials, making it the (EJL), in reality the association and football biggest sports organisation in the country. Remarkably, in the country are still rather young. the number of EJL offi cials has tripled over the past eight years. n 2009, Estonia celebrated 100 years since the country’s The importance of football in Estonia Ifi rst ever football match. It was more than ten years after has also changed dramatically for the that when, on 14 December 1921, the EJL was created, better. In 1994 there were only 3,500 with judge Gustav Laanekõrb elected as its fi rst president. players in the country; now there are Succeeding Laanekõrb, Jaan Lepp, a hero of the 16,510, making it the biggest sport in Estonian war of independence, then served as president Estonia. The EJL has set itself the goal of and led the EJL to full FIFA membership in May 1923. tripling this number by 2024. “We have always developed our foot- Tough history ball based on the needs of society and The longest-serving president during the pre-occupa- culture. It is very hard to build identity tion period was Ado Anderkopp. Anderkopp was also and tradition in the 21st century, but founder of the Estonian Olympic Committee, served on when our national team reached the Toomas Huik/Scanpix Toomas the Estonian parliament for almost 20 years and held the EURO 2012 play-offs we saw what foot- The president, positions of both minister of war and minister of the inte- ball meant to people here,” says Pohlak. Aivar Pohlak, rior and justice. Recently, the star of Estonia’s qualifying campaign, and Estonia’s All three of the above presidents, as well as many other midfi elder Konstantin Vassiljev, was presented with a player of key offi cials and top football players, were killed during citizen of the year award by the ministry of culture. the year, Konstantin the Soviet occupation in the early 1940s. The occupation He was also named player of the year. Vassiljev also meant that the EJL was disbanded and not re-estab- The EJL’s next big challenge is hosting the European lished until over 40 years later, on 3 December 1988. Under-19 Championship fi nal round in July and imple- After the country had regained its independence in menting an ambitious, long-term infrastructure develop- 1991, Estonia rejoined the international football scene ment plan, aimed at taking the country’s facilities to new in 1992 when it became a FIFA member again and heights. ● joined UEFA. The longest-serving EJL president was Peeter Mihkel Uiboleht Küttis. The current president, Aivar Pohlak, was elected in 2007. “It was, of course, very hard at the beginning of the 1990s. Estonian football was basically extinct,” says Pohlak, who has been on the EJL board since 1993. “But from the fi rst day we had a clear philosophy, and as society did not put any pressure on us, we had time to build it up accordingly. We have never raced for results. “We must not forget that in many ways our society had to start again from scratch. I believe that the key factor in the development of a small football country is unity. This is the fi rst thing which an association must achieve. Fight- ing within the football family will never get the sport ahead.”

Society fi rst Nowadays, the EJL manages all the national teams, domestic professional and amateur

leagues, cup competitions, coach education, Indrek Schwede archives referee development, women’s football, grass- Estonia at the 1924 Youth Olympics in Paris

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 17 16.12.11 11:11 UEFADirect114_E.indd 18 Member associations 18 such asbothUEFA andFIFA. tional eventsorganisedbyreputable bodies inoffi soon bereadytotakepart ing theAlbanianwomen’s nationalteamwill areseriouslythink- Albanian footballexperts tional team.Itisnotprematuretosaythat by thecreationofawomen’s Under-17 na- team isnowunderway, tobefollowed and strengtheningthewomen’s national of theFShF, aprojectaimedatconsolidating will soonhaveasignifi cant teamthatwill well preparedtheyare,Iwouldsaythatwe ering thewillingnessofplayersandhow national competitionsinthenearfuture.” play withdignityandtakepartinoffi issues. and targetimportant weaknesses inordertoimprovetheirwork view toidentifyingboththeirstrengthsand thorough evaluationoftheteam,witha a gathering, Rraklliandhisstaffperformed side cityofPogradec.Duringtheweek-long retreat washeldinNovember, inthelake- tiful game. side thathopestoplayamodestbutbeau- dedicatedandcommitted avery to form a placeonthenationalteamandhelping Germany, Franceandelsewhere,seeking have beencomingfromAustralia,theUSA, (FShF). Itmightsoundunlikely, butthey and attheFootballAssociationofAlbania conducted bystaffonthenationalteam long andprofessionalscoutingexercise women’s teamsoutsideAlbaniaaftera Albanian playershavealsoemergedfrom nian women’s championship,manytalented number oftalentedplayersfromtheAlba- .Inadditiontoa the German forvariousteamsin a decadeasforward whoalsoplayedformorethan international of women’s football The advent EDITORIAL The newly formed women’sThe newlyformed nationalteam Rraklli, head coach and former Albanian Rraklli, headcoachandformer own profi le, undertheguidanceofAltin women’s nationalteamisestablishingits year anationalteamistakingshape. events haveeverbeenorganised,butthis playedandwatchedbyAlbanians. sports is aimingtoestablishitselfasoneofthetop inAlbania,women’smodest history football tantly, display. puttingonawonderful ing afi nal score of4-1and,moreimpor- Struga. Albaniawonhandsdown,achiev- Macedonia, intheMacedoniantownof Yugoslavagainst theformer Republicof national teamplayedafriendlymatch As part of their preparations, a training oftheirpreparations,atraining As part Just acoupleofmonthson,theAlbanian Few championshipsandothernational Although itisrelativelyyoung,witha In cooperation with the technical sector In cooperationwiththetechnicalsector At theendofretreat,Albanian “We arejustinthefi rst stages,butconsid- I www.fshf.org Albania MEETINGS I ● COURSES Tritan Kokona cial interna- cial cial inter- I COMPETITIONS

FSHF A unifyinggame awards ceremony 20th nationalfootball established sometimeagoandhasnoend way. pics Andorra,inaunifi and women’s football)andSpecialOlym- sections oftheFAF (men’s football,futsal oped during2011betweenthedifferent past year. tions havebeenorganisedthroughoutthe friendly matchesbetweenthetwoinstitu- disabilities),aseriesofwith learning asameansofintegrationforpeople serves Special OlympicsAndorra(wheresport Andorran FootballFederation(FAF) and presented withtheircupandmedals by champions, Ulisseswerethe Armenian to FCPyunikandgoldUlisses. As were presentedtoFCGandzasar, silver 2011 premierleague. striker, with16goals tohisnameinthe tively. premier leagueandfi rst divisionrespec- winners ofthefairplaycompetitionsin Ulisses FCandtheBanantssecondteam, for winningthefi lect theirchampions’cupandgoldmedals staff weretheninvitedontothestagetocol- Uzunyan (Erebuni),werealsohonoured. litechnik), andplayeroftheyear, Hakob league’s beststriker, MherNazaretyan(Po- futsal champions,ErebuniYerevan. The medals wereawardedtothe2010/11 commentator EduardKalantaryan. TVsports was conductedbyArmenian season, afterwhichtheawardsceremony ofthe2011 ence wasshownasummary Yerevan. Bywayofintroduction,theaudi- hallin Babajanyanstateconcert the Arno emony washeldon26Novemberat The twoinstitutions’collaborationwas An exchangeofactivitieswasdevel- As aresultofanagreementbetweenthe Armenian premier league bronze medals premierleaguebronzemedals Armenian Bruno Correawontheawardforbest Fair playawardswerepresentedto The Shengavitplayersandcoaching First up,thechampions’cupandgold footballawardscer-The 20thArmenian I NEWS www.ffa.am Armenia www.fedandfut.com Andorra I rst division. rst ASSOCIATIONS ed and differentiated edanddifferentiated I The FAF andSpecialOlympicsteams NOTICES contest. ner ofthetotalfootball.amwebsite’s Top 11 Bruno Correawasannouncedasthewin- defender AndranikVoskanyan wonthe with abestyoungplayertrophy;FCMika FC PyunikdefenderVarazdat Haroyan DevelopmentBankawardedArmenian panies presentedtheirownawards.The RubenHayrapetyan. Armenia, the presidentofFootballFederation important toolwecanusetoachieveit.” sport. Integrationisouraimandsportan tellectual disabilitiescanadaptthrough most importantgoalisthatpeoplewithin- Special OlympicsAndorra,added,“the ence forbothinstitutions.” tor, DavidRodrigo,“thisisagoodexperi- side Andorra. matches, aswellsomeexcursionsout- football, seven-a-sidefootballandfutsal vise onanddevelopprojects,likefriendly take advantageofitsownstructurestoad- to SpecialOlympics,theFAF wantsto fromcontributingequipment date. Apart FC Ulissesreceivethechampionshiptrophy newspaper Football+’s “theYear” prize;and Also duringtheceremony, variouscom- As Gualbert Osorio,thepresidentof As Gualbert According totheFAF’s technicaldirec- ● Tigran Israelyan ● Sílvia Casals 16.12.11 11:11

FAF

FFA Azerbaijan 19 www.affa.az

Presentation of the Women’s ijani football on 6 June 2011 in Baku. The FIFA U-17 World Cup mascot president, Joseph S. Blatter, and the UEFA presi- dent, Michel Platini, were both in attendance. Women’s football is one of the top priorities The offi cial mascot was then unveiled before of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan’s UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Azerbaijan (AFFA), which holds numerous match against Austria at Baku’s Dalga Arena on events and has launched various projects to 7 October. A young girl with the national fl ag develop the game in Azerbaijan. It was there- painted on her cheeks, the mascot has yet to fore delighted when the FIFA Executive Com- receive a name. She is dressed in a blue, red, mittee, on 19 March 2010, decided that the green and white kit, just like the host’s national third FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup would be team, and her brown ponytail is designed to held in Azerbaijan in 2012. resemble what is known as a buta, a curved AFFA It is now just under a year until the tourna- motif widely used in Azerbaijani artwork. A mascot awaiting a name ment kicks off in Europe for the very fi rst time. After the match the mascot visited a jobs and New Zealand hosted the fi rst tournament in training fair held at the Baku exhibition centre The AFFA is now holding a competition to 2008 and for the second edition it travelled to before attending a seminar at the Azerbaijani fi nd a name for this cheery fi gure, who they Trinidad and Tobago in 2010. capital’s international school. Staged jointly hope will inspire the host nation when they The logo of the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s by the local organising committee and FIFA’s welcome the world next autumn. World Cup was presented during a ceremonial media department, the seminar discussed the event marking the 100th anniversary of Azerba- theme of teamwork in football. ● Mikayil Narimanoghlu

Belgium www.footbel.be

Under-21s going strong none. We had a real challenge on our hands, but the motivation within the team was great November was a very successful month for and the stands at the stadium in Mons were full the Belgian Under-21 national team. Their of supporters determined to help Belgium to qualifying campaign for the European Un- victory. The match got off to a tricky start, with der-21 Championship fi nals in 2013 had got England scoring after 14 minutes, but our boys off to a slow start with a disappointing 2-1 de- showed no sign of giving up. Instead they feat at the hands of Iceland. They redressed gave it their all and equalised in the 72nd the balance by beating Azerbaijan 4-1 at minute with a goal by Jens Naessens. The fans home, but unfortunately wasted more precious Photo News were over the moon, and the best was yet to points with a 2-2 draw in Azerbaijan. Celebrations after Belgium’s winning goal against come. During stoppage time, Omar El Kaddouri So they had ground to make up, but Novem- England made it 2-1 for Belgium and the stadium went ber was going to be tough time to do it, with wild. It was a brilliant goal and the reaction of both their matches against teams considered to ond minute, thanks to Gianni Bruno. The Nor- everyone who had turned out to support the be the heavyweights in the group: Norway wegians equalised in the second half and our home side was a joy to behold. (away) and England (home). Neither would be young hopefuls responded almost immediately, With 8 points from 5 matches, our Under-21s easy opponents, but the team had to secure taking the lead again with a superb long shot are now in second place in the group, behind some good results to keep hopes of qualifying by Ziguy Badibanga. Unfortunately they only England (12 points from 5 matches), but ahead for the fi nal round alive. With this objective in kept the advantage for ten minutes and the of Norway (7 points from 4 matches). The task mind, Francky Dury and his players more than fi nal score was 2-2. Given the strong opposi- ahead, i.e. qualifying for the fi nal round in lived up to our expectations. tion the team had to deal with, this draw has to 2013, obviously remains a tricky one. The On 10 November, the boys headed to Sta- be considered a success. team still has to face England away, then Nor- vanger, where they faced an excellent Norwe- Then, on 14 November, it was our turn to way and Iceland at home. But given the cour- gian side. The locals pressed hard right from host England, formidable opponents who had age shown by the whole group, we still have the word go, but our Under-21s nevertheless taken the maximum 12 points from their 4 pre- every reason to be optimistic. managed to get one passed them in the sec- vious matches, scoring 16 and conceding ● Pierre Cornez

Bosnia and Herzegovina www.nfsbih.ba

Mixed results The two had already met in play-offs two years for national teams ago for the 2010 World Cup, when Portugal came out on top, with 1-0 wins in both legs. In

FFA The Bosnia and Herzegovina men’s national their latest head-to-head, the fi rst leg at Stadion team came close but in the end failed to qualify Bilino polje was goalless, but in the second for UEFA EURO 2012. Safet Sušic’s players Portugal managed a convincing 6-2 win. made it as far as the play-offs, which in itself is During their preparations for the play-offs, a huge success. Their fi rst chance to secure a the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team place in the fi nal round came in their last group played FK Željeznicar in celebration of the match, when 13 minutes of play stood between club’s 90th anniversary. Both sides put on a great Krvavac F. them and victory over France at the Stade de show, which was won 2-1 by the national A great atmosphere at the gala match to celebrate France in Paris. Bosnia and Herzegovina took team, featuring four players previously from FK FK Željeznicar’s 90th anniversary the lead with an Edin Dzeko goal but Samir Željeznicar – Edin Džeko, Semir Štilic, Sanel Nasri managed to equalise from a penalty. Jahic and Kenan Hasagic. second they beat Greece 1-0 in Tripoli Arkadia. Interestingly, both the goals scored in this Looking to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s other Vlado Jagodic’s team will resume their qualifying match came from Manchester City team-mates. representatives, the women’s national team campaign in second place. With this draw, Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrated a fi rst victory in their EURO 2013 The fi rst part of the 2011/12 domestic sea- finished on 20 points, in second place in qualifying campaign. In Prilep, in the former Yu- son is also over, with Željeznicar leading the Group D. This was a record performance, bet- goslav Republic of Macedonia, they beat the pack after nine consecutive wins. On 35 points, tering all their previous qualifying campaigns. home side 6-2. The Under-21s, meanwhile, have they are 1 ahead of NK Široki Brijeg and 6 The players got another chance to qualify played their last two qualifying matches of the ahead of both FK Sarajevo and reigning cham- via the play-offs, in which they faced Portugal. year. In the fi rst they lost 2-1 in Cyprus, but in the pions FK Borac Banja Luka. ● Fuad Krvavac

UEFA •direct | 12.11

UEFADirect114_E.indd 19 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 20 Croatia www.hns-cff.hr

Optimism for the new year The Croatian Football Federation is looking expectantly to the new year. In June the coun- try’s favourite national team will be represent- ing Croatia in the UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. This will be the fi fth out of seven European Championship or World Cup fi nals in which the team have competed. All the players, their coach, Slaven Bilic, and his staff have the country’s full support. After a great match, and a great victory, in Istanbul, we have high hopes for the EURO. This success contributes to the optimism needed to overcome the diffi cul- ties that some of our clubs our experiencing HNS because of the recession. It is also signifi cant National futsal team for promoting the Futsal EURO 2012. We are grateful to UEFA for entrusting us with the notable among them was Boris Durlen from organisation of this tournament. We want to Zagreb, now a member of the UEFA Futsal and France organise a great event and expect our team to Beach Soccer Committee. www.fff.fr rise to the occasion. It is an excellent opportu- Elsewhere, our cooperation with football nity to revive memories of Croatia’s great tradi- clubs founded by Croats around the world and Virtual facelift tion of indoor football. The Croatian Football representatives of Croatian national minorities Federation was one of the fi rst in Europe to continues. We organised a second world One by one, the leagues and districts’ web- integrate this massive, spontaneous game into championship for clubs founded by Croats, for sites are being given a complete overhaul, with an organised league sport and we are now which eight teams from Australia, the USA, the aim of meeting the new demands of users. celebrating the 50th anniversary of the fi rst Canada and Europe qualifi ed. The winners All of France’s leagues and districts will soon Croatian indoor football championship for were reigning champions CNSC Croatia have brand-new websites. By early December, Under-15s in Zagreb. Toronto. Second place went to Canberra FC 31 of them had already made the change. This The development of indoor football in Croatia and third to SC Croat San Pedro. We also long-term project will take until the end of was encouraged by our former Yugoslavian organised the third European championship 2012, by which time 130 different football association, which decided to devote its atten- for representative teams made up of Croatian bodies will be using the new system. tion to the game. In 1969 the fi rst Yugoslavian national minorities. Nine teams competed and This move comes in response to heavy demand schools championship was held in . the winners were a side from the Serbian prov- from the leagues and districts themselves, some The winners, the school from Nova Gradiska, ince of Vojvodina. The Burgenland Croats from of whose websites were created over ten years were crowned Croatian champions and cer- Austria came second, and a team from Slove- ago and have barely evolved since. A working tain participants even went on to become offi - nia third. group composed of representatives of the cials responsible for futsal in Croatia. The most ● Ante Pavlovic leagues and districts and staff from the FFF web- site, which piloted the technical elements, dis- cussed the changes required. Their discussions also led them to consider the sites’ content and England their approach to online communication. www.thefa.com The option selected was to create a whole new site for each league and district, using The FA changes lives in Kenya ing in football. Accompanying the four young their own graphic design style which, in many coaches were FA staff members Steve Swallow, ways, is increasingly similar to that of fff.fr. As The Football Association’s Football Futures Donna McIvor and Amreeta Bola, and experi- a result, the leagues and divisions will have programme aims to recruit, support and develop enced FA tutor John Heathcote. The FA party much more modern, attractive websites that young volunteers who will form the next gen- were based in Nakuru and worked in partner- are easier for users to navigate. The sites will eration of grassroots football volunteers in Eng- ship with Kenyan second division club Nakuru also be able to host more sophisticated slide- land. As part of this programme, The FA has Allstars, who themselves recruited 17 local shows than before, with the possibility of also given four young people the opportunity young leaders aged 16 to 20. integrating videos from YouTube and Daily- of a lifetime to take part in The FA Changing Day 1 consisted of a leadership training pro- motion. The site administrators, i.e. the leagues Lives trip. gramme delivered by The FA staff. This focused and districts themselves, will also get a new Amy Fisher, Jacob Odu, Lindsey Whitton (all on generic leadership skills. For the next three statistics tool that enables them to monitor ac- aged 20) and Kieren Laverick (19) were se- days, the group visited schools around the tivity on their webpages and precisely measure lected to take part in the seventh annual trip in Nakuru area, coaching children between the the main areas of interest among users, so that October 2011 on the basis of their outstand- ages of 5 and 13. The school-based sessions they can adapt their content if necessary. ing commitment and contribution to volunteer- were initially led by The FA’s young coaches, The fi rst league to launch its new-look site but by the end of the week the leaders from was Paris-Île de France, on 23 February 2011. Nakuru Allstars were confi dent enough to take By the end of 2012 all the others will have fol- the lead. In total, over 400 schoolchildren bene- lowed suit, hopefully to the great satisfaction of fi tted from the coaching sessions. their members and other amateur football fans. Robert Muthomi, owner of Nakuru Allstars FC, said: “We are extremely grateful to The FA ● Stéphane Lanoue for bringing their programme to Naukru. They have left us with so much, and we will continue this work when they have gone.” The FA’s national education manager, Donna McIvor, added: “This has been the most suc- cessful Changing Lives trip to date. Working with Nakuru Allstars has been fantastic and we can see the legacy that has been created here. Thanks also to Skillshare International and Coaching for Hope for helping us to create this link with Nakuru Allstars.” For more information on The FA Football Futures programme, visit www.thefa.com/Get- The FA

IntoFootball/School FFF.fr Budding coaches ● Steve Swallow The homepage of one of the regional leagues

UEFADirect114_E.indd 20 16.12.11 11:11 Germany 21 www.dfb.de

Women’s World Cup leaves green legacy In its legacy report, the organising commit- tee for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup publishes details of the environmental impact of the tournament in Germany. It concludes that it was an environmentally friendly and cli- mate-neutral event, and that sustainable envi- ronmental management had been implemented An environmentally at eight of the nine stadiums used. “This report friendly Women’s shows that Germany once again took the World Cup opportunity to prove itself to be a hospitable and enthusiastic host, as well as to stage an environmentally aware and climate-neutral Getty Images tournament,” said Theo Zwanziger, president of the German Football Association (DFB), and the requirements of the so-called gold German green party (Alliance 90/Green Party) when the report came out. standard. and environmental adviser to the DFB, said: To offset greenhouse gases caused by the For the FIFA World Cup in 2006, Germany “The FIFA Women’s World Cup has left behind tournament, the organising committee and the had already taken the initiative to plan and a green legacy. It has shown that big sports DFB, with FIFA’s support, voluntarily invested implement an environmental programme. events can be climate-neutral and environmen- €600,000 altogether. This money went Since then, FIFA has placed greater value on tally friendly. In this way, it has continued the towards fi ve projects in developing countries, the subject, making environmental protection pioneering work of Green Goal 2006 and set offsetting 40,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a binding condition of bids to host a World new benchmarks.” in all. The projects meet the highest criteria Cup fi nal round. Claudia Roth, chairman of the ● Thomas Hackbarth

Hungary www.mlsz.hu

Three UEFA youth tournaments Youth football is all the rage in Hungary in Hungary Hungarian youth football achieved some- thing special this year at U17 and U19 level. “We also have to congratulate The younger team, led by former international the youth academies and clubs on midfi elder István Pisont, qualifi ed for the elite this great result and we must be round of the 2011/12 European Under-17 aware that this is a record of where Championship, having beaten Belarus, Andorra we stand at present. We have to and Norway on home soil to take fi rst place in prove that we have a place among Group 1. Meanwhile, Frigyes Tuboly’s U19 the best in Europe,” said Tibor side secured second place in their qualifying Nyilasi, the Hungarian Football group, falling behind hosts Portugal on goal Federation’s sports director. difference only. “Our main task in the near future Based on their coeffi cients, the two unbeaten is to fi nd as many talented players Hungarian teams both got a place in pot A mlsz.hu for the senior national team as pos- for their respective elite round draws. The sible. The OTP-MOL Bozsik pro- U17s were placed fourth in the European rank- mini-tournaments (U17, U19) in the autumn. gramme, our nationwide youth education initi- ings, and the U19s seventh. After the draws in This is, in part, a result of the good organisa- ative, is crucial to doing so and this result is a Nyon it was decided that Hungary would host tion that visiting teams have experienced at step in the right direction,” the technical direc- their U17 elite round mini-tournament next the Hungarian Football Federation’s technical tor, József Both, added. March, as well as both 2012/13 qualifying centre in Telki. ● Márton Dinnyés

Iceland www.ksi.is

The whole story every aspect of the 2011 season, from our top divisions and national teams to our youngest The second volume in the 100-year story of players taking their fi rst steps on the football our national championship was published in pitch. These yearbooks are an invaluable December, following on from the fi rst volume source of information on football in Iceland KSI that came out at the end of April. One of Ice- and very popular among the fans. land’s most experienced sportswriters, Sigmun- Getting back to the action on the pitch, the dur O. Steinarsson, is the man behind these am- fi rst task of the new men’s national team coach, bitious books and he has gone to great lengths to Lars Lagerbäck, was a friendly against Mon- fi nd amusing stories and revealing pictures. tenegro, played in Podgorica on 29 October. The fi rst volume is 384 pages long and Lars formally starts his new job on 1 January covers the competition from its fi rst edition, in and has an exciting challenge ahead of him. 1912, until 1965. The second volume, which He will look to simulate the success of his col- runs to 512 pages, begins in 1966 and ends league, Siggi Eyjólfsson, who has already with the 100th season, which ended in Octo- taken the Icelandic women’s team to a major ber. In what is perhaps a rather fi tting turn competition, namely the Women’s EURO 2009 of events, KR Reykjavík won both the fi rst title in Finland. His team are also enjoying top spot in 1912 and the 100th this year. in their Women’s EURO 2013 qualifying group, Also this month, the 31st Icelandic football but they face stiff competition from Belgium, yearbook, Íslensk knattspyrna 2011, was pub- Northern Ireland and Norway. A 900-page history of the Icelandic lished. The author, Vidir Sigurdsson, has recorded ● Thor Ingimundarson championship

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 21 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 22 Italy Kazakhstan www.fi gc.it www.kff.kz

Head of state invites Completion of the season national team to celebrate KFF On 13 November, Kazakhstan’s 2011 foot- FC Ordabasy , Kazakhstan Cup winners 150 years of Italian unity ball season came to an end. In keeping with tradition, the season ended with the fi nal of the of six based on their rankings in the fi rst stage. The Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, Kazakhstan Cup, at Central Stadium. The top six teams play for places 1 to 6 and held a reception for Italy’s national team on 15 This year it was between FC Ordabasy Shym- the other six for places 7 to 12. Also, the teams November, the day of their friendly match kent and FC Tobol . The only goal do not start the second stage from scratch, as against Uruguay, played in Rome to round off of the match, scored by Kazakhstan national they retain 50% of their points from the round- Italy’s celebrations of 150 years of unity. team defender Mukhtar Mukhtarov, brought robin tournament. All those present were touched by the words victory for Ordabasy. With the fi rst trophy The 2011 premier league was not decided of the head of state. Accompanying the players in the club’s history also came a ticket for the until the fi nal round, when FC Shakhter were Gianni Petrucci, president of the Italian 2012/13 UEFA Europa League qualifi ers. Karagandy emerged as the strongest club in Olympic Committee, Giancarlo Abete, presi- Earlier, on 29 October, the fi nal matches in Kazakhstan for the fi rst time. Silver medals dent of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the Kazakhstan premier league were contested. were won by FC Zhetysu Taldykorgan and Antonello Valentini, FIGC chief executive, The top division contains 12 clubs and the bronze by FC . Next summer Zhetysu Cesare Prandelli, national team head coach, championship is played in two stages. In the and Aktobe will therefore enter the 2012/13 and Prandelli’s whole staff. fi rst stage, a traditional double round-robin Europa League qualifi ers, while Shakhter have On behalf of the FIGC, Giancarlo Abete tournament is organised. In the second stage, a place in Champions League qualifying. thanked the Italian president: “Thank you for ● honouring us in this way today. The national the teams are then divided into two groups Alexandr Keplin team will soon be on the pitch in celebration of 150 years of Italian unity, which is something very important to us and something we wish to Liechtenstein honour at this diffi cult time for our country. Sport www.lfv.li and football have always played a crucial role in Italy and we hope to continue that tradition. We have very fond memories of being with you Referee Day on that fantastic night in Berlin in 2006. You have always been our number one, and we say When it joined the UEFA Referee Convention, that as and as sports leaders.” the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) made a commitment to managing the education and organisation of its referees accordingly. As part of its endeavours, the LFV celebrated its second annual Referee Day on 12 November, when young referees from the principality came together for a full day of further educa- LFV tion, both theoretical and practical. Various Training for the principality’s young referees training sessions were held, as well as a Laws of the Game quiz giving the referees a chance By stepping up its activities in referee educa- to test their knowledge of the rules. A lecture tion and organisation, the LFV aims to encour- was given on the Austrian Football Associa- age young and talented referees to take their tion’s referee inspection system and the Liech- hobby to another level and qualify to offi ciate FIGC tenstein national team coach, Hans-Peter in higher leagues, so that Liechtenstein one with the fl ag received from the Italian “Bidu” Zaugg, addressed the participants as day has at least one UEFA referee. president, Giorgio Napolitano guest speaker. ● Anton Banzer The team captain, Gianluigi Buffon, spoke on behalf of Cesare Prandelli and the rest of the team: “It is a great honour to be here ahead Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia of tonight’s game in commemoration of Italy’s www.ffm.com.mk unifi cation. We remain a relatively young peo- ple, a young nation, and at times we must still Award for Goce Sedloski “Every player who reaches this number of learn from our mistakes. Our people need a caps is proud. I won them all for European united, cultivated and responsible political class Before the friendly match between the former Championship and World Cup qualifi ers or and an active state, which you represent with Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania, friendly matches. To reach 100 is not easy. I put integrity and capability. As a nation we all the president of the Football Federation of Mace- my heart into playing for the national team and await answers, so that we can pick ourselves up donia (FFM), Haralampie Hadzi-Risteski, pre- will continue to work as a coach. I thank the again after some very tough times. We aim to do our bit on the pitch and to honour Italy at all sented a special UEFA and medal to Goce FFM and Mr Toshack, the national team coach, times. But right now the hardest job is yours, Sedloski, the fi rst Macedonian footballer to have who invited me to work on his professional staff. and we are the ones supporting you.” played 100 matches for the national team. I will do my best to contribute to better results.” The Italian president thanked the team captain: Sedloski could not conceal his delight on receiv- Sedloski’s career began with FK Bratstvo in “You are a keeper but today you scored a mag- ing the award, especially as it was presented, at Golemo Konjari. He went on to play for FK Pitu nifi cent goal. Your words were wise and solemn. his request, in the city and at the stadium where Guli in Krusevo and later moved to FK Pobeda We must all work hard to remain united, rising he became a renowned football player. Prilep. His international career began in 1996 above divisions and differences of opinion.” Turn- with a move to HNK Hajduk Split, where he ing to the others, the president added: “Buffon’s spent two seasons before transferring to magnifi cent speech shows that even keepers can Sheffi eld Wednesday FC in the English Premier hit the mark, with very wise words for the political League. He later returned to Croatia and spent class. No sooner had I been elected in 2006 two seasons with GNK Dinamo Zagreb. His than you brought home the World Cup, and it is next stop was Japan, where he played for a shame there will not be one in 2013 to end my Vegalta Sendai, after which he returned to term in offi ce with another victory. As long as Europe and spent a season at Diyarbakırspor I have the strength, I will support you, confi dent in Turkey. His amazing career ended last year that you will do your country proud by fl ying this in Austria, at SV Mattersburg, where he cur- fl ag, which I present to your captain.” rently works as assistant coach. His national The reception ended with gifts from both team debut was on 27 March 1996, in a sides: having presented Buffon with the Italian match against Malta in Prilep, and his last was fl ag, Napolitano was given a national team FFM against Azerbaijan last year, when he retired shirt and a football signed by the whole team. Haralampie Hadzi-Risteski presents Goce Sedloski with on 100 appearances and 8 goals. ● Barbara Moschini the UEFA award for his 100 national team appearances ● Zoran Nikolovski

UEFADirect114_E.indd 22 16.12.11 11:11 Malta 23 www.mfa.com.mt

New horizons for players In this season’s enlarged premier league, KFF in domestic leagues 192 matches are being played between August 2011 and April 2012. Each team will At the beginning of the 2011/12 season, the be in action no fewer than 32 times, which is Malta Football Association introduced changes a solid statistic when compared with the in the national league structure. These involved number of matches other teams play in many enlarging the premier and fi rst divisions to 12 top divisions elsewhere in Europe. teams each, with 14-team second and third divi- ● Alex Vella sions below, providing competition matches for a total of 52 teams across four divisions. Every team in the top division now plays D. Aquilina every weekend, as is common in other coun- More matches for players at Maltese clubs Northern Ireland tries in Europe. As a result, there will also be www.irishfa.com more incentives for teams and players in terms Under-21 Maltese internationals, who need to of competitive momentum, which they must be work on their skills and their physical condition A very positive model quick to maintain when the going is good and more regularly. The new format has opened up regain as soon as possible after defeat. new horizons for players who no doubt aspire The Irish FA-endorsed World United project It is crucial for the top teams to play every to raise their game to the level of their foreign has been highlighted as a best practice exam- week, especially those who fi eld senior and counterparts. ple of how football governing bodies can use the universal power of football to tackle racism and promote respect for diversity. It was singled Moldova out in a 2011 report produced by Dr Steven Bradbury of Loughborough University, entitled www.fmf.md Representation and Structural Discrimination in Football in Europe: The Case of Minorities and The future for youth Women. players World United is an intercultural football project based in Belfast and designed to The Football Association of Moldova increase participation in organised football (FMF) recently organised the fi fth edi- among refugees, asylum seekers and members tion of its Viitorul tournament (mean- of “settled” minority communities, as players ing “the future”), involving the coun- and coaches. It is also intended to encourage try’s most talented young players increased social capital and community inte- born in 1997, selected from all of gration among minorities. The project presently Moldova’s regions. FMF features around 40 players drawn from a In the semi-fi nals, the northern team The western team won the tournament range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds beat the eastern team 4-0, and the spanning Somalia, the , Portugal, team from the west won 5-0 against those from team’s side (coached by Victor Afanasiev), Zimbabwe, , Poland, and Iran, as well the south. In the third-place play-off, the south- who ran out as winners on a fi nal score of 6-5. as players from both sides of the Catholic and erners overcame the eastern team to win 4-0. They were presented with their trophy by FMF Protestant religious divide. The fi nal, meanwhile, proved to be a very vice-president Radu Rebeja. close and tense affair. Dan Grubii opened the The tournament attracted great interest from score for the northern team after 15 minutes the public and youth team coaches. It was IFA but then Emil Ciornii from the western team created to discover talented new players and equalised from a penalty in the 47th minute. has already become a regular feature on the The match was therefore decided by a penalty Moldovan calendar. shoot-out in which luck was on the western ● Press offi ce

Netherlands www.knvb.nl

Dutch captain to promote football. In recent years it has become the larg- women’s football est team sport for women in the country, with a current membership of over 125,000. UEFA’s women’s football ambassador, Steffi Jones (second Daphne Koster has joined the ranks of the Koster, who has won 118 caps over the last from left), with players from Women’s World United Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) decade and is aiming to qualify for the UEFA to help better position and promote girls’ Women’s EURO 2013 in Finland with the With support from UEFA and Peace III, over and women’s football in the Netherlands. The Oranje, joined newcomers Telstar in the the last 12 months the Irish FA’s community rela- 30-year-old captain of the national women’s women’s premiership this season after a four- tions department has also established a new team has already worked for the KNVB, from year stint with AZ Alkmaar and a successful World United Women’s Team, with over 30 2008 to 2010, helping to develop women’s summer at Sky Blue FC in the USA. “The FA has women of more than 20 different nationalities laid a good foundation to build on. I saw in the enjoying football in a fun, safe and inclusive USA that clubs want to get closer to their fans. environment. In addition, the Irish FA’s Peace III- That is what we do at Telstar when we sign funded community relations department works autographs after each match. And after home with a variety of partners to deliver free anti- matches of the national team we kick signed racism and anti-sectarian workshops all over footballs into the stands as a token of apprecia- Northern Ireland. tion for the fans. They really love it,” Koster The Irish FA’s head of community relations, said. Michael Boyd, said: “Both racism and sectari- Daphne Koster will closely cooperate with anism must be challenged in all their forms. former treasurer of the board Johan van There is no place for bigotry of any form in Kouterik, who will act as women’s football sport or society. World United is a very posi- project manager for the next few years. An- tive model of how we can use the universal other indication of the professional approach power of football to promote respect for diver- to grassroots football in the Netherlands is sity and it is great it has been recognised in Hans Schelling’s recent appointment as futsal this recent international report.” KNVB.NL manager. Daphne Koster promotes women’s football ● Rob de Leede ● Michael Boyd

UEFA •direct | 12.11

UEFADirect114_E.indd 23 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 24 Republic of Ireland www.fai.ie

FAI launches coaches Tactical talks association between the senior The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) re- national team cently launched its new coaches association. coach, Giovanni The FAI offers a range of coaching courses, Trapattoni from Kick Start 1 and 2 right through to UEFA (right), and the Pro licence courses, and it sees the coaches U19 coach, association as a vital component of future suc- Paul Doolin, cess. Nationally, the FAI has almost 28,000 at the launch registered coaches and this number has been of the coaches increasing steadily year on year as clubs and association leagues recognise the benefi ts of quality coaching for player development. The FAI coaches association will provide FAI coaches at all levels with access to useful and insightful coaching tips and advice, including also include access to top-class session plan- software is used by Chelsea, West Ham United session plans (technical, tactical and fi tness), ning software that allows coaches to design and Fulham, among others. video content and interviews. Membership will and print their own session plans. The same ● Fran Whearty

Romania Sweden www.frf.ro www.svenskfotboll.se

Event design and ticket launch carries a distinctive fl avour of the host city – the Football gala and regulation design shows a solitary beam of light fl owing changes The road to the 2012 UEFA Europa League through the cityscape on the way to fi nal started on 25 November in exactly the its ultimate destination, the stadium. The visuals The football gala for the 2011 season in same place as it will end at around midnight also contain the intricate structure and detailing Sweden helped Zlatan Ibrahimovic expand his on 9 May 2012. of Romanian arts and crafts, which are int- trophy cabinet yet again as he was awarded The design and logo for the 2012 UEFA Eu- egrated within the swoosh of light. the player of the year award (Guldbollen) for ropa League fi nal was unveiled by UEFA at the Speaking to the assembled dignitaries, Mircea the sixth time. Lotta Schelin, meanwhile, was national arena in Bucharest during a ceremony Sandu and Sorin Oprescu emphasised the pre- crowned women’s player of the year. The held in the stadium’s VIP hospitality lounge. vailing feeling of pride at having this opportu- UEFA president, Michel Platini, attended the More than 150 guests and 80 media repre- nity to host the fi nal and assured those present sentatives attended the launch, which took that every possible effort was being made to place in the presence of , ensure that Bucharest would be staging the best the 2012 Europa League fi nal ambassador possible fi nal. Belodedici added that the fi nal and fi rst man to win the European Champion would be a major boost for Romanian children Clubs’ Cup twice as player with two different and young players. The fact that the country clubs: CSA Steaua Bucuresti in 1986 and FK had been entrusted with such an important Crvena Zvezda fi ve years later, in 1991. Also occasion could only increase their interest in present were the mayor of Bucharest, Sorin both the grassroots and the professional game. Oprescu, the president of the national sports On the same occasion, ticket sales for fans and youth authority, Doina Melinte (former ath- living in Romania were offi cially launched. lete and Olympic champion in Los Angeles in More than 20,000 tickets, almost half of the 1984), the president of the Romanian Football national arena’s 55,000 capacity, have been Federation (FRF), Mircea Sandu, representa- set aside for the local market. SvFF tives of UEFA and local sports personalities. “Bucharest is a warm city and our visitors As a symbolic gesture, , will experience this for themselves when they , , Miodrag travel to our capital in early May 2012. We The UEFA president presents Kurt Hamrin with his award Belodedici and – fi ve big names already welcome them. Meanwhile, our fans from the “”, who wrote his- are very passionate and they will give the fi nal gala as a special guest to present a lifetime tory for Romanian football – signed auto- its all-important, local fl avour,” said the FRF achievement award to Kurt Hamrin, a true graphs on the pitch of the 2012 fi nal for 50 president, Mircea Sandu. gentleman and ambassador for the sport who children, all of them hoping to become profes- The passion is high and so is the interest: all started out with AIK Stockholm before going sional players themselves. 20,000 tickets allocated to Romanian fans on to score 190 goals during 15 seasons in The Europa League fi nal has been given a were sold within a matter of days. the with Juventus, Padova, ACF Fioren- complete design package and its visual identity ● Paul Zaharia tina, AC Milan and SSC Napoli. Hamrin was also an integral part of the national team when Sweden claimed silver at the 1958 World Cup. Looking forward, the Swedish FA has ap- proved a number of changes in the domestic regulations ahead of the 2012 season. Among the more notable is the decision to allow more time and effort to resume play in matches that are stopped due to crowd disturbances. A game that, in spite of all efforts (including emp- tying the arena), cannot be concluded the same day can now be resumed on a later date at the minute and score where play was halted. Previously, the only option was to replay the entire 90 minutes from 0-0. In another change of format, from now on the Swedish Cup will be played from summer to spring, with the fi rst round in July and the fi nal in May. Niculae Profi r, Romanian FA r, Niculae Profi Young faces full of excitement at the prospect of hosting the Europa League fi nal ● Andreas Nilsson

UEFADirect114_E.indd 24 16.12.11 11:11 Switzerland 25 www.football.ch

identifi ed three objectives for his term in offi ce. Heinrich Schifferle “My top priorities are the best possible imple- elected president of the mentation of TV and marketing contracts, a Swiss Football League reduction in violence in and around stadiums Heinrich and an improvement in cooperation with the At their annual general meeting at the Stade Schifferle clubs,” he said.

de Suisse in Berne, the clubs in the Swiss Foot- ASF/SFV Just a few hours after Schifferle’s election as ball League, representing professional football president of the Swiss Football League, and in Switzerland, elected Heinrich Schifferle, therefore his automatic appointment as vice- their former fi nancial director and current vice- president of the Swiss Football Association, the president of Challenge League club FC Winter- The outgoing members were Thomas Grimm town of Winterthur had another reason to cel- thur, as president of the organisation. Along- (President, BSC Young Boys), Aniello Fontana ebrate: in a round of 16 penalty shoot-out, side the new president, three committee (FC Schaffhausen) and former Swiss interna- relative minnows FC Winterthur knocked out members were also elected, namely Bernhard tional Alexandre Rey (Xamax FC). hot favourites BSC Young Boys from the Swiss Heusler (FC Basel 1893), Ilja Känzig (BSC The newly elected president, whose initial Cup. Young Boys) and Walter Stierli (FC Luzern). three-year mandate will take him to 2014, ● Pierre Benoit

Turkey www.tff.org

Avcı named new Turkey coach forward for Turkish football,” Avcı added. Born in 1963 in Istanbul, Abdullah Avcı played The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has an- for Vefaspor, Fatih Karagümrük SK, Çaykur nounced Abdullah Avcı as the new Turkey Rizespor, Kahramanmarasspor, Bakırköyspor, coach, having signed a contract with the Kasımpasa, Istanbulspor AS, Küçükçekmece- former Istanbul BB SK boss until 31 May 2015. spor and Nisantasıspor, before hanging up his Speaking at the contract signing ceremony boots in 1999 at the club where he fi rst started. held at the TFF headquarters in Istanbul, the Avcı’s coaching career began that same president of the Turkish Football Federation, year at Istanbulspor AS, followed by a spell as TFF Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, said: “As a European head of the Galatasaray AS youth academy. The new national team coach, Abdullah Avcı (left), Under-17 Championship winner and U-17 He then took over Turkey’s U17 team and in his and the TFF president, Mehmet Ali Aydınlar World Cup semi-fi nalist, Mr Avcı deserved this fi rst season secured victory at the 2005 Euro- post and he got it. I believe he’ll put his mark pean fi nals in Italy and reached the U-17 since. He guided Istanbul BB SK through a total on many successes during his tenure.” World Cup semi-fi nals in Peru. of 205 matches and helped them to the Turkish “It’s an honourable job and a huge respon- In August 2006 he moved to Istanbul BB SK, Cup fi nal last season for the fi rst time in the sibility. I am very happy to have this opportu- leading them to promotion in his fi rst season club’s history. nity and know we will take important strides and keeping them in the Super League ever ● Türker Tozar

Ukraine Wales www.ffu.org.ua www.faw.org.uk

Stadium boom in Ukraine FC Chornomorets Odesa, a club which does Alun Evans has passed away not attract stars of the Ukrainian Premier Last month there was a real stadium boom in League and only dreams about the European The Football Association of Wales (FAW) is Ukraine, which will be hosting UEFA EURO 2012 stage. saddened by the death of its former general next summer alongside Poland. It opened its doors on 17 November by host- secretary Alun Evans. In November, inaugural matches were played ing a match in the 17th round of the Ukrainian Alun was born in 1942 in Porth, in the at three new arenas within the space of ten Premier League between the local team and Rhondda Valley in South Wales. Having been days. The in Kyiv staged a FC Karpaty (2-2). After the match, the in poor health for some time, he passed away friendly between Ukraine and Germany on 11 Chornomorets head coach noted the impor- on Saturday 12 Novem- November (3-3) and four days later the new tance of such new arenas: “It is very good that ber. Alun took over from was tested by another friendly, new stadiums are being built in Ukraine, be- Trevor Morris as secre- in which Ukraine beat Austria 2-1. cause it will stimulate development in football tary of the Welsh associ- These two stadiums were reconstructed in and attract fans to matches.” ation in 1982 and con- preparation for EURO 2012, but the third one, The new Chornomorets stadium is located tinued until 1995, when in Odesa, has nothing to do with the European in one of the central parks of Odesa, near the he left the association Championship. Furthermore it was rebuilt by Black Sea coast, as was the club’s old home. and was succeeded by The modern construction was built on David Collins. He also the site of the former complex, which sat on many UEFA and had been a feature of this picturesque FIFA bodies. Later, he re- area since 1935. Long-standing sup- turned as the League of porters have seen a lot of great clubs Wales representative on play there, including Real Madrid CF, the FAW Council. For Alun FC Internazionale Milano, S.S. Lazio, many years he was also Evans SV Werder Bremen and even Brazil’s involved in the Universi- CR Flamengo. ties Athletics Union and

The new stadium’s exterior is inspired was the secretary of FAW by the architecture of the main histori- Welsh League side UWIC. cal buildings of the city, such as the A forthright individual, Alun was instrumen- Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre, the tal in the formation of the League of Wales city hall, elements of the Quarantine and was a strong leader of FAW policies. He Harbour Fortress and, more generally, is survived by his wife and two children. We beautiful hotels such as the London- are sure that many of his former colleagues skaya, the Chervona and the Chorne around Europe will join with us in mourning his Ivan Cherevatenko More. passing. Chernomorets’ new stadium in Odesa ● Igor Linnyk ● Ceri Stennett

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UEFADirect114_E.indd 25 16.12.11 11:11 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 26 Birthdays, calendar, notices

■ BIRTHDAYS Birthdays IN FEBRUARY

Volker Roth (Germany), member of ■ BIRTHDAYS the circle of former UEFA committee IN JANUARY members, is celebrating his 70th birthday on 1 February, followed the Aleksei Spirin (Russia), referee ob- Atanas Furnadzhiev (Bulgaria, 15.1) next day by Trygve Bornø (Norway), server, is celebrating his 60th bir- Mitja Lainscak (Slovenia, 15.1) member of the Stadium and Security thday on 4 January. He is followed Cleomenis Bontiotis (Greece, 16.1) Committee. On 14 February Manuel on 21 January by Maria Teresa Sune Hellströmer (Sweden, 17.1) Lopez Fernandez (Spain), referee Andreu Grau (Spain), member of Stephen Bennett (England, 17.1) observer, is turning 60, as are Pertti the circle of former UEFA committee Blazenka Logarusic (Croatia, 17.1) Alaja (Finland), member of the circle members. Meanwhile, on 6 January Fabrizio Tonelli (Italy, 18.1) of former committee members, and Sergei Safaryan (Belarus), member Bujar Kasmi (Albania, 19.1) Antonello Valentini (Italy), member of the HatTrick Committee, is cele- Lars-Åke Lagrell (Sweden, 20.1) of the Media Committee, both on brating his 50th birthday, as is Nelly Pedro Ángel Galán Nieto 18 January, followed by João F. Viennot (France), referee observer, (Spain, 20.1) De Magalhães Marques (Portugal), on 8 January. UEFA also wishes many Bjorn Vassallo (Malta, 20.1) doping control offi cer, on 20 January, happy returns in January to: Anders Mattsson (Finland, 21.1) and fi nally Maarten Fontein (Nether- Ángel María Villar Llona lands), member of the Professional Necdet Cobanli (Turkey, 1.1) (Spain, 21.1) Football Strategy Council, on 23 Vlatko Markovic (Croatia, 1.1) Vladimir Iveta (Croatia, 21.1) January. Turning 50 in February Davor Šuker (Croatia, 1.1) Are Habicht (Estonia, 22.1) are Jordi Pascual (Andorra), match Monica Ortigueira (Switzerland, 2.1) Urs Meier (Switzerland, 22.1) delegate, on 18th and Fevronia Gerhard Sager (Sweden, 3.1) Alan Freeland (Scotland, 22.1) Minodora Ion (Romania), referee Andreas Demetriou (Cyprus, 3.1) Lassin Isaksen (Faroe Islands, 22.1) observer, on 25th. Kuanysh Kanapyanov Teuvo Holopainen (Finland, 23.1) UEFA also wishes many happy returns (Kazakhstan, 4.1) Harry M. Been (Netherlands, 23.1) in February to: David George Collins (Wales, 5.1) Pat Quigley Mariano Moreno (Spain, 6.1) (Republic of Ireland, 24.1) Karen Espelund (Norway, 1.2) Walter Clarke (Northern Ireland, 6.1) Patrick Wattebled (France, 24.1) Kyros Vassaras (Greece, 1.2) Rudolf Marxer (Liechtenstein, 6.1) Gevorg Hovhannisyan Leonardus van der Kroft Sergii Lysenchuk (Ukraine, 6.1) (Armenia, 25.1) (Netherlands, 2.2) Bernhard Neuhold (Austria, 8.1) Metin Kazancioglu (Turkey, 26.1) Igor Shalimov (Russia, 2.2) Franco Ferrari (Italy, 9.1) Miroslaw Ryszka (Poland, 26.1) Steen Dahrup (Denmark, 3.2) Velid Imamovic Florence Hardouin (France, 26.1) Mark Blackbourne (England, 3.2) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9.1) Krister Malmsten (Sweden, 27.1) Renata Tomasova (Slovakia, 3.2) Herbert Hübel (Austria, 10.1) Cosimo Bolognino (Italy, 30.1) Jelena Oblakovic-Babic Michel Dumoulin (Belgium, 11.1) Brian Lawlor (Wales, 31.1) (Serbia, 3.2) Hans-Dieter Drewitz (Germany, 11.1) Vaclav Krondl (Czech Republic, 5.2) Olivier Brochart (France, 11.1) Gabriel Weiss (Slovakia, 6.2) Elnur Mammadov (Azerbaijan, 11.1) Erich Rutemöller (Germany, 8.2) Juan N. Garcia-Nieto Portabella Yusuf Namoglu (Turkey, 8.2) (Spain, 12.1) Michael Appleby (England, 8.2) Derek Kirkwood (Scotland, 13.1) Fino Fini (Italy, 9.2) Drago Kos (Slovenia, 13.1) Donald McVicar (Scotland, 9.2) Sofoklis Pilavios (Greece, 13.1) Danilo Filacchione (Italy, 9.2) Sarah O’Shea Zoran Lakovic (Serbia, 9.2) ■ (Republic of Ireland, 13.1) The offi ces of the UEFA Tomislav Karadžic (Serbia, 10.2) Sergei Ilyich (Belarus, 13.1) administration in Nyon are Luc Rabat (France, 10.2) Luis Horta (Portugal, 14.1) closed from 23 December Dani Koren (Israel, 10.2) Iljo Dominkovic Stewart Regan (Scotland, 10.2) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 14.1) to 2 January inclusive. William McDougall (Scotland, 11.2) Martin Iseli (Switzerland, 14.1) Annelie Larsson (Sweden, 11.2) Nodar Akhalkatsi (Georgia, 14.1) Fritz Stuchlik (Austria, 11.2) Alessandro Lulli (Italy, 15.1) Borislav Mihaylov (Bulgaria, 12.2) Phivos Vakis (Cyprus, 15.1) David McDowell (Slovenia, 12.2)

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Oleksandr Bandurko (Ukraine, 13.2) Notices (Italy, 13.2) Christian Mutschler ■ Miroslav Pelta was elected president (Switzerland, 13.2) of the Football Association of the Marinus den Engelsman Czech Republic on 17 November. (Netherlands, 14.2) ■ Pafsanias Papanikolaou was Thomas Weyhing (Germany, 14.2) appointed CEO of the Hellenic Livio Bazzoli (Italy, 14.2) Football Federation in November. Peter Bonde (Denmark, 14.2) Forthcoming ■ Ebru A. Köksal was appointed Juan Carlos Miralles general secretary of the Turkish (Andorra, 14.2) events Football Association on 1 December. John McBeth (Scotland, 15.2) ■ Zdislaw Krecina resigned from his ■ Susanne Erlandsson (Sweden, 15.2) Meetings position as general secretary of the Athanassios Machairas Polish Football Federation at the end (Greece, 15.2) 24/25 January, Nyon of November. Katriina Elovirta (Finland, 15.2) Executive Committee Leif Sundell (Sweden, 15.2) Svitlana Shkil (Ukraine, 15.2) 29 January−3 February, Antalya, Turkey Obituary Orkhan Huseynzade Referees course (Azerbaijan, 15.2) Former general secretary of the Football Adalbert Kassai (Romania, 16.2) 30 January, Antalya, Turkey Association of Wales Alun Evans passed Roman Sowinski (Poland, 16.2) Referees Committee away on 12 November at the age of 69. Karoly Török (Hungary, 16.2) At European level he served on the UEFA committee for the delivery of licences to Tervel Zlatev (Bulgaria, 16.2) 9 February, Nyon agents negotiating matches from 1984 to Helena Fernandes (Portugal, 17.2) Club Competitions Committee 1996, as well as on the group of experts Gudrun Inga Sivertsen for transfers from 1992 to 1996. He (Iceland, 17.2) subsequently became a member of the Jozef Venglos (Slovakia, 18.2) circle of former UEFA committee members Borislav Alexandrov (Bulgaria, 18.2) ■ Competitions known as the Amicale des Anciens. Flemming Serritslev (Denmark, 18.2) Patrick Kelly 31 January − 11 February, Croatia (Republic of Ireland, 18.2) European Futsal Constantin Gheorghe Championship fi nal round (Romania, 18.2) Mikael Santoft (Sweden, 18.2) 14/15 + 21/22 February Vasily Melnychuk (Ukraine, 18.2) Champions League: Janis Mezeckis (Latvia, 19.2) round of 16 (fi rst legs) Lars Arnesson (Sweden, 20.2) Edward Potok (Poland, 20.2) 16 February Eggert Magnusson (Iceland, 20.2) UEFA Europa League: Patricia Moyersoen (France, 20.2) round of 32 (fi rst legs) Ralph Zloczower (Switzerland, 21.2) The UEFA president, Asim Khudiyev (Azerbaijan, 22.2) 23 February general secretary, Holger Hieronymus (Germany, 22.2) UEFA Europa League: Vladimir Sajn (Slovenia, 22.2) round of 32 (return legs) directors and staff Ana Caetano (Portugal, 22.2) Peter Jones (England, 24.2) wish all UEFA·direct Janos Ring (Hungary, 24.2) readers a happy and Petr Dolezal (Czech Republic, 24.2) Oleg Harlamov (Estonia, 24.2) prosperous 2012. Miroslav Radoman (Serbia, 25.2) Vladimir Hrinak (Slovakia, 25.2) Ghenadie Scurtul (Moldova, 26.2) Egidius Braun (Germany, 27.2) Allan Hansen (Denmark, 27.2) (Germany, 28.2) John Beattie (England, 28.2) Markus Stenger (Germany, 28.2)

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