No. 10 4 – 12/2010 Meet Slavek and Slavko UEFADirect104•EN.indd 1 16.12.10 09:16 2 In this issue Fresh impetus for women’s football 4 The creation of the UEFA Women’s Champions League last season has done wonders for women’s football. le The competition is now well into its second season, UEFA with the quarter-fi nals just around the corner. Sportsfi UEFA EURO 2012 mascots 7 Slavek and Slavko, the UEFA EURO 2012 mascots, were introduced to the public in November. UEFA MESGO seminar in Nyon 8 A Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO) seminar was held at UEFA HQ in Nyon in November. UEFA WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL UEFA Executive Committee meets in Prague 12 Offi cial publication of the The last Executive Committee meeting Union des associations of the year was held in the Czech capital européennes de football in early December. UEFA Chief editor : André Vieli Produced by : Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland Printing : Celebrating football unity 15 Artgraphic Cavin SA, CH-1422 Grandson Celebrations were held in Leipzig to mark Editorial deadline : 10 December 2010 20 years since German football’s reunifi cation Hartmann/Bongarts/Getty Images The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the on 21 November 1990. offi cial views of UEFA. The reproduction of articles published in UEFA·direct is authorised, provided the source is indicated. UEFA News from member associations 16 Route de Genève 46 CH-1260 Nyon Switzerland Tel. +41 848 00 27 27 Fax +41 848 01 27 27 www.UEFA.com E-mail: [email protected] Cover Slavek and Slavko, the UEFA EURO 2012 mascots, have been busy promoting the tournament in Poland and Ukraine since November. Photo: UEFA UEFADirect104•EN.indd 2 16.12.10 09:16 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES EditorialSurtitre 3 Keeping the fl ame alive UEFA ne of the most popular symbols of Christmas is the On that note, I would like to take this opportunity to Otree, with its fairy lights and tinsel. Its traditional wish the entire football family and all its friends a very shape – with thicker, denser lower boughs tapering into happy Christmas and New Year. Let us all resolve to a point with fewer branches – is reminiscent of the foot- keep the fl ame of football alive and burning bright in ball pyramid, with its wide grassroots base and slender 2011. Even without any major international tournaments elite peak. on the calendar, the year ahead is sure to provide us with no shortage of exciting football at all levels of the However, unlike the short-lived Christmas tree, football game. seeks durability and stability – of the Laws of the Game, of its competitions and structures – although at times, ensuring this perennial state can be something of a struggle, with threats on various fronts never far away. Michel Platini UEFA President Football has achieved its popularity and established itself thanks, in no small part, to the faith of its pioneers, who never stopped believing in their ideal. They man- aged to keep alight the fl ame they had lit and pass it on to us. Times have changed, as have the challenges we face, but our enthusiasm must be as strong as that of our predecessors’ in order to fuel the fl ame of football and ensure that it burns brighter and longer than the lights on the Christmas tree. UEFA•direct | 12.10 UEFADirect104•EN.indd 3 16.12.10 09:16 EDITORIAL I MEETINGS I COURSES I COMPETITIONS I NEWS I ASSOCIATIONS I NOTICES 4 UEFA Women’s Champions League Fresh impetus for women’s football The introduction of a European women’s competition was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Paris on 23 May 2000. As a result, the fi rst UEFA Women’s Cup was staged in 2001/02, bringing together 33 clubs from as many different national associations. The number of associations represented of the revamped competition is the fi nal, which is now increased considerably within just a played as a single match on the Thursday before the few years. This, combined with the suc- men’s fi nal, in the same city. cess of the competition and the emer- gence of top-level women’s teams, Competition format prompted UEFA to modernise the for- Before moving onto the fi nancial aspects of the compe- mat in 2009/10 and the UEFA Women’s Champions tition, let us take a look fi rst at its sporting side. In principle, League came into being. each association is represented by one team, although The new format is inspired by that of the men’s UEFA the top eight in the rankings are entitled to two places Champions League. It raises the profi le of women’s (one in the round of 32 and the other in the qualify- football and puts more resources at its disposal, while ing round for the seasons 2009/10 and 2010/11; as guaranteeing a maximum number of participating mem- from the 2011/12 edition, both clubs from the top eight ber associations. For outsiders, the most striking feature will start in the round of 32). The qualifi ers take place in 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam won the fi rst Women’s Champions League fi nal, which was held in Madrid in the same week as the men’s fi nal. le Sportsfi UEFADirect104•EN.indd 4 16.12.10 09:16 5 5 Looking ahead to the quarter-fi nals The access list for the 2010/11 UEFA Women’s Champions League contained 51 teams. For 28 of them, the competition kicked off in August with the qualifying round, played in the form of mini-tournaments for which the teams were drawn into seven groups of four. he clubs seeded for these mini-tournaments, i.e. the domestic Tleague runners-up of the eight associations with the high- est coeffi cient rankings, all made it through, with the notable exception of Umeå IK, fi ve-time UEFA Women’s Cup fi nal- ists and winners in 2002/03 and 2003/04. This time, the Swedes left Cyprus empty-handed after being comprehen- sively beaten (4-1) by the mini-tournament hosts and ultimate Empics Sport group winners, Apollon Limassol LFC. Gwenn Haries of Everton passes the ball despite All the other seeds qualifi ed for the round of 32, either by pressure from MTK’s Zsuzsanna Szabo in the second leg of their round of 32 tie this season. winning their mini-tournaments – as in the case of Denmark’s Brøndby IF, Everton of England, French team August, in the form of mini-tournaments played as round- FCF Juvisy Essonne, robin fi xtures by groups of four teams. The group winners Italy’s ASD Bardolino and, depending on the number of entries, potentially Verona, Russia’s Ros- one or more runners-up qualify for the knockout stage, siyanka and Ger- which kicks off in September with the round of 32. From many’s 2001 Duis- here until the fi nal, all matches are played on a home burg – or, in the case and away basis and the away goals rule applies. As of Iceland’s Breidab- in the men’s game, if two teams score the same number lik, as best group of goals at home and away, two 15-minute periods of runners-up. ZNK Krka extra time are played and, if necessary, the match goes of Slovenia also quali- UEFA to penalties. fi ed as runners-up. The clubs, heavyweights and newcomers alike, are They were joined delighted with the new format and, just like their male in the round of 32 Quarter-fi nal draw in Nyon counterparts, lots of players have waxed lyrical about by another 23 teams their impressions: the Champions League really is the – including the titleholders, 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam – who ultimate club competition. Such sound bites are quick had byes to the knockout stage. It was in the round of 32, to confi rm. Flemming Nielsen, manager and coach of played in September and October, that Apollon’s incred- Danish club Fortuna Hjørring, for example, says: “As cham- ible campaign came to an end, although the Cypriots made pions of a small football country two seasons in a row, Russia’s Zvezda-2005 work hard for their place in the next we need the Champions League to help us improve, round. Three others who had make it through the qualifying because our domestic competition doesn’t produce enough round – Bardolino, Breidablik and Krka – were knocked out tough matches. We played very well against Bardolino in the round of 32, with another two – Brøndby and Rossi- Verona this season and last, but Duisburg are obvi- yanka – bowing out in November’s round of 16. This meant ously formidable opponents.” Alexander Bondarenko, there were only three domestic runners-up remaining when manager of FC Rossiyanka, shares Nielsen’s enthusiasm: the quarter-fi nal draw was held on 19 November in Nyon. It “It was an excellent idea of UEFA’s and has breathed produced the following ties: new life into women’s football.” Rainer Zimmermann, ■ 1. Zvezda-2005 v Olympique Lyonnais FCR 2001 Duisburg press offi cer, attaches great ■ 2. Arsenal Ladies FC v Linköpings FC importance to the competition, especially as his side ■ 3. Everton v FCR 2001 Duisburg lifted the UEFA Women’s Cup two years ago, in their ■ 4. FCF Juvisy Essonne v 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam debut season: “The Bundesliga is obviously our top prior- The quarter-fi nals will be played on 16/17 March (fi rst ity, because a domestic title illustrates the continuity of a legs) and 23/24 March (return legs).