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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEUEFA ADMINISTRATION REPORT

2007/08

XXXIII Ordinary UEFA CongressCopenhagen, Denmark, March 2009

WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL

Annual report 2008_E:Layout 1 16/2/09 14:51 Page 1

02 03

Contents

PART I: Report of the President and Executive Committee

06 07 Summary

08 09 Competitions

10 13 Meetings

14 15 Relations with the European Union and other public authorities

16 17 Composition

18 23 The Committees

PART II: UEFA Administration Report26 27 Introduction

28 33 National Associations

34 41 Competitions

42 45 Football Development

46 49 Governance and Legal Affairs

50 53 Communications

54 59 Marketing

60 63 Commercial

64 67 Finance

68 71 Services

72 77 UEFA Media Technologies


04 05

PART I:

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE1 July 2007 – 30 June 2008


06 07Report of the President and Executive Committee2007/08

Links with the member associations and theirofficials were also improved through numerousvisits made by the President to the associationsand by delegations to UEFA's Nyon headquarters,as well as the regular participation of ExecutiveCommittee members in national associationgeneral assemblies. Free of the tension ofelections, the 32nd Ordinary UEFA Congress,which was held in Zagreb on 31 January 2008,also provided a chance to discuss many of theissues being addressed by UEFA, while offeringthe delegations an opportunity to strengthen theirlinks with one another. The same was true of themeeting of presidents and general secretaries, held in Vienna the day before the EURO 2008 final.

During the period covered by this report, the policy of strengthening the nationalassociations was implemented through theorganisation of seminars specially tailored to theassociations' individual needs (TEP programme)and the sharing of good practices in themanagement of sport and sports competitions(KISS programme).

EURO 2008, which was held in Austria andSwitzerland, was the main event of the 2007/08season. The Executive Committee closelymonitored the whole preparatory phase. The President and members attended numerousmatches, promotional events, inaugurations andother events.

The resounding success of the tournament notonly rewarded all the effort put in by the organisers,but also underlined, once again, the extraordinarypopularity of international football.

The European Championship also providedopportunities to strengthen links with top-levelpoliticians. In addition, the Executive Committee'sdecisions in the areas of television imageproduction and marketing proved to be correct.The resulting financial success of the tournamentensured that support for the national associationsthrough the HatTrick II programme will continuefor the next few years.

The importance of the European Championshipfinal round is such that an enormous amount ofattention is paid to preparations for the event. For this reason, EURO 2012, which was awardedto the national associations of Poland andUkraine in April 2007, has already been a frequenttopic of discussion at Executive Committeemeetings during the last year. The politicalinstability in these countries and the delays inwork being carried out mean that thepreparations require constant scrutiny and thePresident and Executive Committee are doingtheir utmost to ensure that the tournament can be held as planned in the countries of these twonational associations.

The period covered by this report was alsomarked by continuing measures to strengthenlinks between members of the European footballfamily. A vital step in this direction was taken inJanuary 2008, with the creation of the EuropeanClub Association, which replaced the EuropeanClub Forum and was recognised by the clubs and UEFA as the body capable of representing all European clubs and defending their interests.This measure resulted in the disbanding of theexclusive group of clubs based in Brussels (theso-called G14) and the withdrawal of variouscomplaints pending with civil courts. Anotherstumbling block – the release of players fornational team matches – was also successfullyresolved for the benefit of the European footballfamily as a whole.

Created in early 2007, the Professional FootballStrategy Council has proved, in these and otherdiscussions, to be an ideal forum for debate ofimportant issues common to UEFA and itsmember associations, professional leagues, clubs and players. An agreement was also signed between UEFA and FIFPro Europe inOctober 2007.

Now chaired by Executive Committee members,the UEFA committees fully played their part bysupporting the Executive Committee, whichbenefited from their detailed work. Their opinionsand proposals were included in reports brought to each meeting of the Executive Committee,enabling it to take decisions with the benefit ofcommittee recommendations. Committee weekswere introduced, during which two committeemeetings were held each day at UEFAheadquarters in Nyon. The expert panels alsocontributed to the Executive Committee'sactivities. All the national associations arerepresented within these bodies by their mostsenior officials, giving them greater involvement in UEFA's work and activities.

Summary



Organising competitions for national teams andclubs clearly remains one of UEFA's key activities.Like UEFA EURO 2008, the most prestigiousmatches were a great success, both the UEFAChampions League final in Moscow and theUEFA Cup final in Manchester. The women's,youth and futsal competitions were alsosuccessfully completed. Women's football inparticular continued to grow in popularity and theExecutive Committee also carefully monitored thedevelopment of beach football.

However, such success should not prevent usfrom looking forward and seeking new ways ofensuring that these major events continue to play,or even increase, their role as stimulators ofEuropean football. As far as the EuropeanChampionship is concerned, a detailed study wascarried out to examine the feasibility of increasingthe number of final round participants to 24, as certain associations had requested at the 2007 Congress in Düsseldorf. The meeting ofpresidents and general secretaries held in Viennaat the end of June 2008 was clearly in favour ofthis proposal.

The club competitions will enter a new three-season cycle in 2009, with a revised format.Here also, dialogue and the exchange of ideaswere chosen as means of reaching a solutionthat, as far as possible, took all interests intoaccount, without ever losing sight of the generalinterest and the pre-eminence of the sportingaspect. The Executive Committee adopted thenew club competitions format at its meeting inLucerne at the end of 2007, opening the UEFAChampions League to representatives of morenational associations while retaining the elementsthat are crucial to its success. Furthermore, the final will be played on a Saturday eveningrather than a Wednesday, a switch that shouldenable more children and families to attend, as well as ensuring that the match marks theculmination of a week-long football festival.

As regards the UEFA Cup, at their meeting on25/26 September 2008, the Executive Committeeapproved a change of name to the UEFA EuropaLeague and chose the format of 12 groups of four teams, with centralised marketing of mediarights for the group stage and fully centralisedmarketing of the knockout phase. The ExecutiveCommittee also decided to stick with theprinciple of clubs linking the UEFA ChampionsLeague with the new UEFA Europa League,through allowing clubs eliminated in theChampions League second and third qualifyingrounds to enter the new competition. Finally, theUEFA Super Cup will continue to be played inMonaco until at least 2011 and will, from now on,be marketed with the UEFA Champions Leaguerather than the UEFA Cup.

Competitions



The Executive Committee met six times during the reporting period. On each occasion, it reviewed the committees' activities, discussedtheir recommendations and took a large numberof decisions, ranging from the selection oforganisers of final tournaments and competitionfinals to the adoption of regulations, the approvalof the construction of a new administrativebuilding, financial and commercial matters, theawarding of grants and monitoring of the clublicensing procedure, as well as draw proceduresand technical, legal and other issues.

In addition, the President and ExecutiveCommittee members carried out numerousindividual missions, including meetings withpolitical authorities, working group meetings,visits to national associations and representingUEFA at matches throughout Europe.

The European members of the FIFA ExecutiveCommittee participated in all UEFA ExecutiveCommittee meetings in order to ensureconsistent, harmonious cooperation betweenworld football's governing body and UEFA.Moreover, at each of these meetings, thePresident and General Secretary of the hostnational association were invited to attend inorder to familiarise themselves with the ExecutiveCommittee's work and the way it dealt with theissues under discussion.

Summary of meetings:

26 September 2007 in Istanbul

• Adoption of EURO 2008 draw procedure

• Proposal for ranking system for the draw forthe 2010 World Cup qualifying competition

• Partnership agreement with theInternational Committee of the Red Crossat EURO 2008

• Payment of a subsidy of CHF 1 million tothe Hellenic Football Federation to fund thereconstruction of infrastructures damagedby fire

• Amendment of dates for the final round ofthe 2009 European Under-21 Championship

• Approval of the regulations of the inauguralEuropean Under-21 Futsal Tournament

• Support for the principle of an insurancefund in case of player injuries during EURO 2008

30 November – 1 December 2007 in Lucerne

• Approval of the new club competitionsformat for 2009-12

• UEFA Champions League final moved toSaturday from 2010

• Approval of the agreement with the newEuropean Club Association (ECA)

• Hungarian Football Federation selected tohost the final round of the 2009/10European Futsal Championship

• Football Union of Russia named as hostsof the final round of the inaugural EuropeanUnder-21 Futsal Tournament

• FC Dinamo Moskva appointed as hosts ofthe final round of the 2008 Futsal Cup

• Adoption of new UEFA Anti-DopingRegulations

• Approval of mandatory full cardiologicalscreening for all players at EURO 2008

• Approval of the creation of a bureau for the HatTrick Committee

• Appointment of the Danish FootballAssociation as hosts of the 2009 OrdinaryUEFA Congress

• Approval of a draft memorandum ofunderstanding with the Alliance ofEuropean Football Coaches' Associations

• Agreement in principle to the use of giantscreens in EURO 2008 stadiums for thebroadcast of match action

• Acceptance of the national associations of Austria, Denmark and the Republic ofIreland to the UEFA Convention on Referee Education and Organisation

Meetings



29-30 January 2008 in Zagreb

• Approval of guidelines on the use of giantscreens in EURO 2008 stadiums

• Approval of a new technical developmentprogramme designed to facilitate theexchange of knowledge between nationalassociation coaches

• Approval of the addition to the UEFAGrassroots Charter of the nationalassociations of Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Latvia,Liechtenstein, Moldova and Sweden (1 star) and Finland and Ukraine (5 stars)

• Admission of the national associations of Azerbaijan, Belarus and Moldova to the UEFA Convention on the MutualRecognition of Coaching Qualifications(level A)

• Approval of the Regulations of the UEFA Regions' Cup 2008/09

• Approval of the memorandum ofunderstanding with the ECA

28 March 2008 in Vaduz

• Selection of the Santiago Bernabeustadium in Madrid to host the 2010 UEFAChampions League final and of the ArenaHamburg to host the 2010 UEFA Cup final

• Decision to continue staging the UEFASuper Cup at the Stade Louis II in Monacountil at least 2011

• Selection of the French Football Federationas host of the 2009/10 European Under-19Championship final round

• Selection of Nyon as the venue of the finalround of the European Women's Under-17Championship in 2008 and 2009, to beorganised by the UEFA administration

• Approval of a Respect campaign

• Approval of the 2008/09 UEFA clubcompetition regulations

• Adoption of the Regulations of the UEFA Futsal Cup 2008/09

• Approval of the Regulations of the UEFA Women's Cup 2008/09

• Amendment of the dates of the 2009European Futsal Championship final round and of the 2009 European Women's Championship

• Abolition of the division system in theEuropean Women's Championship

• Adoption of a new policy for trophiesawarded to winners of major competitions,which in future will be kept permanently atUEFA's headquarters

Meetings

19-20 May 2008 in Moscow

• Approval of a new system for calculatingnational team coefficients for competitiondraws

• Selection of the Football Association of theFYR Macedonia to host the final round ofthe European Women's Under-19Championship in 2010

• Adoption of the regulations for the UEFAyouth competitions in the 2008/09 season

• Approval of the regulations of the UEFAEuropean Under-21 Championship 2009-11

• Adoption of the new UEFA DisciplinaryRegulations, including the introduction ofcommunity service penalties

• Amendment of the rules concerningsuspensions after yellow cards issued at EURO 2008

• Admission of the national associations ofArmenia, Azerbaijan and Cyprus (one star),Russia (two stars) and Wales (four stars) asmembers of the UEFA Grassroots Charter

• Admission of the national associations of the Republic of Ireland (Pro level) andArmenia (B level) to the UEFA Conventionon the Mutual Recognition of CoachingQualifications

27 June 2008 in Vienna

• Approval of the document entitled“Safeguarding the heritage and future of team sport in Europe” with a view toaddressing the French Presidency of the European Union and the EuropeanCommission

• Approval of UEFA's consolidated budgetfor the 2008/09 season

• Adoption of the Regulations of the UEFAEuropean Futsal Championship 2009/10,with the number of final round participantsincreased to 12



It is also worth noting the steps taken in relationto social dialogue between employers andemployees, which resulted in the creation of a social dialogue committee for Europeanprofessional football, chaired by the UEFAPresident and composed of FIFPro DivisionEurope on the employees’ side and the ECA and EPFL on the employers’ side.

In addition, the President, Michel Platini,addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of theCouncil of Europe in January 2008, when hecalled for the protection of the essential values of sport and of its specificity, stressing theimportance of sport as a factor of social andcultural integration. At this session, the Council of Europe unanimously passed a resolution toprotect the European sports model.

While the Executive Committee continues to do its utmost to ensure that football is able, under law, to fully express its specificity, it is also well aware of football's social role and isconstantly involving UEFA in the fight againstracism and all forms of discrimination. In thiscontext, UEFA particularly contributed to aconference against violence in sport, organised inNovember 2007 by the European Commission inpartnership with the Portuguese Presidency ofthe EU Council and the European Parliament.Furthermore, at the start of the 2007/08 club

competition season, the Executive Committeereaffirmed its determination to fight againstracism and all forms of discrimination and urgedreferees and delegates to take a hard line in this area. It expressed the same determination tocombat doping, requiring out-of-competitiontesting and, for the first time, blood tests duringEURO 2008. On this theme, the ExecutiveCommittee also decided to give financial supportto a study that could result in a new anti-dopingtest involving hormone profiles.

It also worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross to launch a campaign inconnection with EURO 2008 to help victims ofanti-personnel mines in Afghanistan. UEFA alsocontributed to other humanitarian projects, an anti-obesity campaign and environmentprotection initiatives.

As well as specific football-related matters, the Executive Committee discussed football'splace and role in society. It continued its policy of dialogue with the European Union authorities,aimed at giving sport clear, reliable legalfoundations on which it can build a solid, firm future. Its efforts were aligned with theInternational Olympic Committee, other Europeanteam sports federations, FIFA and its memberassociations. In Brussels, a White Paper on Sport– which does not go as far as UEFA's proposalson the subject – was published by the EuropeanCommission in July 2007 and, in May 2008, the European Parliament adopted a resolutionwhich, although it has no binding legal force,gave a strong political signal by putting thespecificity of sport back at the top of the agendaand giving particular emphasis to the importanceof national teams, the club licensing system, the principle of solidarity that underpins thecentralised marketing of commercial rights andUEFA rules encouraging local training of players.In this context, it should be noted that the phasefor the introduction of the obligation for clubs toinclude locally trained players in their squads has been completed, with the 2008/09 clubcompetition regulations requiring eight players to have been trained by the club or within itsnational association.

At its meeting in Vienna on 27 June, the ExecutiveCommittee also approved a document drafted by UEFA in collaboration with the Europeanbasketball, handball, ice hockey, rugby andvolleyball federations. This document(“Safeguarding the heritage and future of teamsport in Europe”), addressed to the FrenchPresidency of the EU and the EuropeanCommission, aimed to defend the values of theEuropean sports model by stressing the need foreffective self-regulation and greater legal certainty through the appropriate recognition of the specificity and autonomy of sport. In it, the Executive Committee particularly emphasisedthe importance it attaches to training and theprotection of minors.

Relations with the European Union and other public authorities



Members:

Franco Carraro (Italy), joined the Executive Committee in 2004

Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia), joined theExecutive Committee in 1994

Gilberto Madaíl (Portugal), joined the Executive Committee in 2007

Joseph Mifsud (Malta), joined the Executive Committee in 1994

Per Ravn Omdal (Norway), joined the Executive Committee in 1992

Mircea Sandu (Romania), joined the Executive Committee in 2007

Mathieu Sprengers (Netherlands) †, joined theExecutive Committee in 1996

Grigoriy Surkis (Ukraine), joined the Executive Committee in 2007

Co-opted members:Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland)

Friedrich Stickler (Austria)

At the beginning of April 2008, the ExecutiveCommittee – and the whole European footballfamily – mourned the death of MathieuSprengers, president of the Dutch FootballAssociation and a member of the UEFA ExecutiveCommittee since 1996.

At its June meeting, the Executive Committeealso thanked its two co-opted members,Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland) and FriedrichStickler (Austria), who had worked closely withthe UEFA EURO 2008 organisers and theExecutive Committee. Their terms expired at the end of June.

The Executive Committee duringthe 2007/08 period:President: Michel Platini (France), elected in 2007,Executive Committee member since 2002

1st Vice-President: Senes Erzik (Turkey),Executive Committee member since 1990

2nd Vice-President: Geoffrey Thompson (England),Executive Committee member since 2000

3rd Vice-President: Ángel María Villar Llona(Spain), Executive Committee member since 1992

4th Vice-President: Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder(Germany), Executive Committee member since 2000

5th Vice-President: Marios N. Lefkaritis (Cyprus),Executive Committee member since 1996

Composition



National Team CompetitionsCommitteeChairman: Gilberto Madaíl

Deputy Chairman: Franco Carraro

1st Vice-Chairman: Lars-Åke Lagrell (Sweden)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Theo Zwanziger (Germany)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Nodar Akhalkatsi (Georgia)

Members: Brian Barwick (England); Harry M.Been (Netherlands); David G. Collins (Wales);Vassilis Gagatsis (Greece); Jacques Lambert(France); Zorislav Srebić (Croatia); Haluk Ulusoy(Turkey) until 15 February 2008

Co-opted member: Ralph M. Zloczower(Switzerland)

The committee analysed the feasibility ofexpanding the European Championship to 24 teams, it adopted a new system for thecalculation of national association coefficientsand prepared the regulations for the EURO 2016bidding process.

Meetings: 8 November 200724 April 2008

Club Competitions CommitteeChairman: Friederich Stickler

1st Vice-Chairman: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge(Germany)

2nd Vice-Chairman: David Gill (England)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Ramón Calderón Ramos(Spain)

Members: Joan Gaspart (Spain); UmbertoGandini (Italy); Evgeny Giner (Russia); SuneHellströmer (Sweden); Niels Christian Holmstrøm(Denmark); Peter Kenyon (England); JohnMcClelland (Scotland); Lourenço Pereira Coelho(Portugal); Roger Vanden Stock (Belgium); DamirVrbanović (Croatia)

Preparations were made for all aspects of the2009-12 UEFA club competition cycle, includingthe new format, new access list and technicalaspects. The committee also examined the bidsfor the 2011 and 2012 finals and carried out astrategic analysis aimed at enhancing the value of the competitions.

Meetings: 31 August 200727 February 2008

Youth and Amateur FootballCommitteeChairman: Viacheslav Koloskov

Deputy Chairman: Gilberto Madaíl

1st Vice-Chairman: Jim Boyce (Northern Ireland)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Ruben Hayrapetyan(Armenia)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Aivar Pohlak (Estonia)

Members: Tugomir Frajman (Slovenia); PhilipGartside (England); Ludovico Micallef (Malta);Maurizio Montironi (San Marino); Vicente MuñozCastello (Spain); Süheyl Önen (Turkey); DanielClaudiu Prodan (Romania); Matthias Sammer(Germany); Carlo Tavecchio (Italy)

Co-opted members: Jean-Pierre Escalettes(France); Susanne Erlandsson (Sweden);Aleksandra Nikolovska (FYR Macedonia)

The committee prepared the regulations andmonitored the organisation of the men's andwomen's Under-17 and Under-19 competitions. It noted the success of the inaugural EuropeanWomen's Under-17 Championship, organised bythe UEFA administration in Nyon. The ninth UEFAElite Youth Football Conference was held inCannes in November 2007.

Meeting: 26 February 2008

National Associations CommitteeChairman: Geoffrey Thompson

Deputy Chairman: Marios N. Lefkaritis

1st Vice-Chairman: Giancarlo Abete (Italy)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Armand Duka (Albania)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Vitaly Mutko (Russia)

Members: Oleksandr Bandurko (Ukraine); Jean-Pierre Escalettes (France); Joseph Gauci (Malta);Metin Kazancioğlu (Turkey); Albert HendrikKorthals (Netherlands); Zdizisław Kręcina (Poland)until 4 November 2008; Wolfgang Niersbach(Germany); Miloš Tomáš (Slovakia); Haim Zimmer(Israel)

In particular, the committee developed andimplemented the Top Executive Programme(TEP), fixed the minimum statutory requirementsfor national associations and dealt with questionsrelating to the member associations.


Finance Committee

Chairman: Marios N. Lefkaritis

Members: Geoffrey Thompson, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, Franco Carraro

The committee advised and assisted theExecutive Committee with the financialmanagement of UEFA. It managed assets,assessed financial risks and drew up the budgetfor the UEFA administration's new building.

Meetings: 26 September 200730 November 200729 January 200819 May 200826 June 2008

Referees Committee

Chairman: Ángel María Villar Llona

Deputy Chairman: Senes Erzik

1st Vice-Chairman: Allan Hansen (Denmark)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Michał Listkiewicz (Poland)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Borislav Mihaylov (Bulgaria)

Members: Marc Batta (France); Pierluigi Collina(Italy); Hugh Dallas (Scotland); David R. Ellaray(England); Bo Karlsson (Sweden); Jozef Marko(Slovakia); Volker Roth (Germany); Vladimir Sajn(Slovenia); Jaap Uilenberg (Netherlands); SergeyZuev (Russia)

The committee selected and prepared thereferees for EURO 2008, it closely monitored theexpansion of the UEFA Convention on RefereeEducation and Organisation and it prepared forthe experiment with five match officials in UEFAyouth competitions.

Meetings: 7 November 200719 December 200723 April 2008

The Committees



(Poland); Janis Mežeckis (Latvia); ĺsak Mikladal(Faroe Islands); Campbell Ogilvie (Scotland);Anton Ondruš (Slovakia); Mordechai Shpigler(Israel); Raimondas Statkevičius (Lithuania)

The committee prepared the launch of the StudyGroup Scheme (technical exchange programmebetween national associations). The Conventionon the Mutual Recognition of CoachingQualifications continued to expand to includenow all 53 member associations. Membership of the Grassroots Charter is also growing rapidly.


Club Licensing CommitteeChairman: Giangiorgio Spiess

1st Vice-Chairman: Peter Rees (Wales)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Høgni í Stórustovu (FaroeIslands), appointed in place of Óli Holm (FaroeIslands), who stepped down on 1 March 2008

3rd Vice-Chairman: Leonid Dmitranitsa (Belarus)

Members: Marco Brunelli (Italy); VoludymyrChorno-Ivanov (Ukraine); Eduard Dervishaj(Spain); Lúðvík Georgsson (Iceland); Alex Horne(England); Jacques Lagnier (France); ErnstRavnaas (Norway); Ivančica Sudac (Croatia); AlešZavrl (Slovenia)

The committee prepared the new club licensingregulations and organised an exchangeprogramme. It is also seeking ways of promotingfinancial fair play in the UEFA club competitions.


Stadium and Security CommitteeChairman: Senes Erzik

Deputy Chairman: Grigoriy Surkis

1st Vice-Chairman: Michael van Praag(Netherlands)

2nd Vice-Chairman: David Blood (Republic ofIreland)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Geir Thorsteinsson (Iceland)

Members: Andreas Akkelides (Cyprus); VladimirAleshin (Russia); Ivan Ćurković (Serbia); TheodoreGiannikos (Greece); Peter Gilliéron (Switzerland);Teuvo Holopainen (Finland); Dane Jošt (Slovenia);Odile Lanceau (France); Ivan Borissov Lekov(Bulgaria); Karel Vertongen (Belgium)

The committee reviewed the stadium and securityregulations. It approved the stadium inspectionprogrammes and endeavoured to promoteUEFA's campaign for stadiums without fences.


Medical CommitteeChairman: Dr Michel D’Hooghe

Deputy Chairman: Dr Viacheslav Koloskov

1st Vice-Chairman: Dr Urs Vogel (Switzerland)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Prof. Jan Ekstrand (Sweden)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Prof. W. Stewart Hillis(Scotland)

Members: Prof. Mehmet S. Binnet (Turkey); Dr Pedro Manuel Correia Magro (Portugal); Dr Helena Herrero (Spain); Alan Hodson(England); Prof. Wilfried Kindermann (Germany);Dr Mogens Kreutzfeldt (Denmark); Dr JacquesLiénard (France); Prof. Paolo Zeppilli (Italy)

The committee laid down the medicalrequirements for UEFA EURO 2008 and the clublicensing system. It continued to study playerinjuries connected with the youth competitionsand UEFA Champions League. It organised aforum for elite club doctors and intends tobroaden its anti-doping training campaign.


Women’s Football CommitteeChairman: Mircea Sandu

Deputy Chairman: Friedrich Stickler

1st Vice-Chairwoman: Karen Espelund (Norway)

2nd Vice-Chairwoman: Susanne Erlandsson(Sweden)

3rd Vice-Chairwoman: Hannelore Ratzeburg(Germany)

Members: Sheila Begbie (Scotland); BernadetteConstantin (France); Aleksandra Nikolovska (FYRMacedonia); Vera Pauw (Netherlands); PhilippePritchard (Wales); Sergei Safaryan (Belarus);Gudrun Inga Sivertsen (Iceland); Bontcho Todorov(Bulgaria)

The UEFA Women’s EURO 2009 was the mainfocus of the committee's work. The members alsodiscussed the development of the UEFA Women'sCup and put together a programme for the nextfew years, including a club licensing system.


Futsal and Beach SoccerCommitteeChairman: Grigoriy Surkis

Deputy Chairman: Joseph Mifsud

1st Vice-Chairman: Pavel Mokrý (Czech Republic)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Tomás Gea (Andorra)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Giorgio Crescentini (SanMarino)

Members: Semen Andreev (Russia); Boris Durlen(Croatia); Javier Lozano Cid (Spain); FerencRagadics (Hungary); Antonio Silva Pereira(Portugal); Christian Teinturier (France); FabrizioTonelli (Italy)

As well as the organisation of the current competitions,including the new European Under-21 Futsal

Tournament, the committee reviewed thedevelopment of beach soccer in Europe.

Meetings: 4 September 20076 November 200725 February 2008

HatTrick CommitteeChairman: Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder

Deputy Chairman: Geoffrey Thompson

1st Vice-Chairman: František Laurinec (Slovakia)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Liutauras Varanavičius(Lithuania)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Costakis Koutsokoumnis(Cyprus)

Members: Ângelo Carlos Brou (Portugal); IoannisEconomides (Greece); Zoran Laković (Serbia);Mark O’Leary (Republic of Ireland); Juan PadrónMorales (Spain); Florian Prunea (Romania)

The HatTrick I programme was completed andthe HatTrick II programme was launched insummer 2008. The committee also monitored theimplementation of the KISS (Knowledge andInformation Sharing Scenario) exchangeprogramme.


Development and TechnicalAssistance CommitteeChairman: Per Ravn Omdal

Deputy Chairman: Franz Beckenbauer

1st Vice-Chairman: Zvezdan Terzić (Serbia)

2nd Vice-Chairman: István Ksteleki (Hungary)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Paul Philipp (Luxembourg)

Members: Trevor Brooking (England); IljoDominkovič (Bosnia-Herzegovina); Jerzy Engel

The Committees



Media CommitteeChairman: Mircea Sandu

Deputy Chairman: Michel D’Hooghe

1st Vice-Chairman: Sondre Kåfjord (Norway)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Ralph M. Zloczower(Switzerland)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Adilbek Dzhaksybekov(Kazakhstan) appointed in place of Rakhat Aliyev (Kazakhstan), who stepped down on 28 March 2008

Members: Francesc Amat Escobar (Andorra);Nicolai Cebotari (Moldova); Thórir Hákonarson(Iceland); Tassos Katsikides (Cyprus); Alex Manfré(Malta); Armen Melikbekyan (Armenia); RolandOspelt (Liechtenstein); Rudolf Řepka (CzechRepublic)

The committee set up a group of experts anddecided to organise a media seminar in January2010. It considered the possibility of knowledgeexchange programmes in the media field.


Fair Play and Social ResponsibilityCommitteeChairman: Senes Erzik

Deputy Chairman: Per Ravn Omdal

1st Vice-Chairman: Rudi Zavrl (Slovenia)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Elkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan)appointed to replace Ramiz Mirzayev (Azerbaijan),who passed away on 30 October 2007.

3rd Vice-Chairman: Fernand Duchaussoy (France)

Members: Arben Bici (Albania); VassiliosChatziapostolou (Greece); Michael Cody(Republic of Ireland); Momir Djurdjevac(Montenegro); Michel Dumoulin (Belgium);

Adalbert Kassai (Romania); Kimmo Lipponen(Finland); Charles Schaack (Luxembourg);Stanislav Strapek (Slovakia)

The committee prepared a social responsibilitystrategy, including a funding mechanism valuedat 7% of UEFA's average income. It alsocontributed to the projects launched for EURO 2008, such as the Respect and Score forthe Red Cross campaigns. Financial assistancewas given to member associations affected bynatural disasters.

Meetings: 1 September 20072 February 2008

Football CommitteeChairman: Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

Deputy Chairman: Mircea Sandu (Romania)

1st Vice-Chairman: Vlatko Marković (Croatia)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Pavel Cebanu (Moldova)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Dejan Savićević (Montenegro)

Members: Carlos Godinho (Portugal); FernandoHierro (Spain); Julius Kvedaras (Lithuania); YordanLetchkov (Bulgaria); Andreas Morisbak (Norway);Gordon Smith (Scotland); Dragan Stojković(Serbia); Dino Zoff (Italy)

The committee examined numerous technicalissues, such as the guidelines on disputed goals,the right of appeal for coaches who aresuspended, authorisation to change substitutes in extra time, the relationship between the refereeand the fourth official and the protection of young players.


Players’ Status, Transfer andAgents and Match AgentsCommitteeChairman: Joseph Mifsud

Deputy Chairman: Giangiorgio Spiess

1st Vice-Chairman: Abraham Luzon (Israel)

2nd Vice-Chairman: George Peat (Scotland)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Haralampie Hadzi-Risteski(FYR Macedonia)

Members: Tlekbek Akpayev (Kazakhstan) until 28 March 2008; Zsolt Füzesi (Hungary); WolfangHolzhäuser (Germany); João Leal (Portugal); JensErik Magnussen (Faroe Islands); Armen Minasyan(Armenia); Jorge Pérez Arias (Spain); Jean-MariePhilips (Belgium); Henrik Ravnild (Denmark);Jean-Jacques Schonckert (Luxembourg)

The committee considered the changes made tothe FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transferof Players and the FIFA Players' AgentsRegulations. It also examined the relevant CAS(Court of Arbitration for Sport) and EU case-law,prepared new rules for match agents anddiscussed ways of protecting young players and training clubs.


Legal CommitteeChairman: Giangiorgio Spiess

Deputy Chairman: Ángel María Villar Llona;

1st Vice-Chairman: Pekka Hämäläinen (Finland)

2nd Vice-Chairman: François de Keersmaecker(Belgium)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Bogdan Čeko (Bosnia-Herzegovina) appointed to replace Milan Jelić(Bosnia-Herzegovina) who passed away on 30September 2007.

Members: Mario Gallavotti (Italy); Herbert Hübel(Austria); Henk Kesler (Netherlands); AinarLeppänen (Estonia); Krister Malmsten (Sweden);Marie-Claire Maney (Northern Ireland); RolandMici (Albania) until 28 March 2008; Jesper MøllerChristensen (Denmark); Ori Shilo (Israel); SerghiyStorozhenko (Ukraine)

In cooperation with the National AssociationsCommittee, the Legal Committee recommendedminimum criteria for the member associations. It examined the role of the Court of Arbitration forSport (CAS), the provisions of the UEFA Statutesthat could be revised and relevant football-relatedcourt rulings.


Marketing Advisory CommitteeChairman: Franco Carraro

Deputy Chairman: Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder

1st Vice-Chairman: Guntis Indriksons (Latvia)

2nd Vice-Chairman: Reinhard Walser(Liechtenstein)

3rd Vice-Chairman: Lütfi Ariboğan (Turkey)

Members: Askar Akhmetov (Kazakhstan); FuadAsadov (Azerbaijan); Zbigniew Boniek (Poland);Jonathan Hill (England); Evgeny Kalakoutski(Russia); Alfred Ludwig (Austria); AlexanderSlutski (Belarus); Ucha Ugulava (Georgia);Jaroslav Vacek (Czech Republic)

The committee reviewed and updated themarketing programmes for the UEFA nationalteam and club competitions. It lent its support toa marketing model for the activities of theHatTrick and TEP programmes. It also discussedthe issue of players' image rights in national teamcompetitions.


The Committees


24 25

PART II:

UEFA ADMINISTRATION REPORT1 July 2007 – 30 June 2008


26 27UEFA Administration Report2007/08

Introduction2007/08 was the first full season under the newly electedUEFA President, Michel Platini, and the first for the UEFAadministration in its new organisational set-up.

The new organisation chart, introduced in November 2007,is made up of ten streamlined divisions plus UEFA MediaTechnologies (UMET), a UEFA affiliate. On the same basis, it also included Euro 2008 SA.

The year was a special one in that it was the year of the final round of the 2006-08 UEFA European FootballChampionship and, as such, much of the work done bythe administration throughout the year reflected this.

The changes to the access list and the centralisation of the third qualifying round of the UEFA ChampionsLeague, plus the transformation of the UEFA Cup into the UEFA Europa League with a full group stage, will bring with it increased work for the administration and UEFA officials, but this will not take effect until the2009/10 season.

The pages that follow provide a full report of theadministration’s work during the 12-month period fromJuly 2007 to June 2008 and follow the direction set bythe UEFA President and the decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee.



National AssociationsThe year under review saw several landmarks,including the conclusion of the first quadrennialHatTrick investment programme, finalisation of abenchmarking report providing the broadest-everpicture of European club football and establishment of a draft pan-European policy specifying the roles and responsibilities of visiting stewards at internationalfootball matches.

The division was also reorganised, with the RefereeingUnit moving to Football Development and the Club Licensing Unit joining the National AssociationsDivision. Prior to this, in September, 55 assistantreferees took part for the first time at UEFA in a seriesof practical exercises on the field of play, with offsidedecisions filmed and immediately analysed. The Referees Committee considers this a good way to improve performance.



Top Executive ProgrammeUEFA’s Top Executive Programme (TEP)concluded its 2007 series of eight round tablesinvolving the presidents and general secretariesof 46 UEFA member associations. Discussionsfocused on revenue maximisation and savingcosts, as well as on football and socialresponsibility. The National AssociationsCommittee convened for the first time inNovember and again in Nyon on 25 April. At the second meeting, proposed refreshments to the round-table formula were approved. The committee also discussed the principles andscope of good governance in European football.

HatTrick investmentprogrammeFollowing the conclusion of HatTrick I, the HatTrick II season officially kicked offimmediately following the year-end, on 1 July2008, with many national associations alreadyshowing an interest in applying for projects. Just under four months before the end of the first quadrennial programme on 30 June 2008,results achieved were encouraging, with the vastmajority of approved funds paid out under boththe investment and mini-pitch programmes. In the few cases where an association has notassigned current funds to a project, it will be ableto “roll over” unused HatTrick funds from the2004-08 to the 2008-12 season.

By the end of June, the KISS (Knowledge andInformation Sharing Scenario) programme hadreached the end of its first phase, with about 35 seminars and workshops organised over twoand a half years. More importantly, a network has been created including a large number ofmembers of national associations who aregrouped in communities dedicated to undertakingprojects together and developing good practicein various fields related to football management. In July 2008, a new phase began, with anemphasis on distance learning.

National Associations



BenchmarkingA benchmarking report providing the broadest-ever picture of European club football,was finalised and distributed to all nationalassociations. The document includescomparative analysis of more than 40 leagues.The unit also provided national associations with tailored analysis and assistance in thecreation of national benchmarking reports.

Stadium and SecurityIn preparation for UEFA’s 2008/09 clubcompetition season, 53 stadiums in 21 countrieswere inspected. The Stadium and Security Unitalso provided assistance to several nationalassociations regarding implementation of the new UEFA Stadium Infrastructure and Safety and Security Regulations. It established a draftpolicy for the use of football halls for UEFAcompetitions. As part of the pan-European safetyand security working programme led by an EU experts’ group, the unit contributed to theestablishment of a draft policy specifying theroles and responsibilities of visiting stewards atinternational football matches. The workingprogramme was approved by the EU’s Council of Ministers in December 2007. The unit alsorecruited eight senior police commanders fromvarious European countries to be members of the UEFA security team for UEFA EURO 2008.Finally, it addressed two important securitymeetings in Italy. The first, at a meeting of theItalian National Observatory on Sports Events in Rome, covered various safety and securityaspects related to international football matches;the second concerned stewarding.

Club LicensingThe Club Licensing Unit joined the NationalAssociations Division and moved to the mainbuilding in November. A working group has been set up to discuss future development of thesystem. This includes transformation of the club licensing manual into a set of regulations, to provide the system with a more robust legalframework. After the national associations hadsent UEFA their list of licensed clubs in June, nine clubs were prevented from entering theUEFA club competitions. One of these (CSKASofia) was barred from the UEFA ChampionsLeague and eight from the UEFA Intertoto Cup.The unit was also approached by FIFA during the year for further collaboration regarding theimplementation of the FIFA club licensing systemin the other confederations. At the European ClubForum, the unit reported on the first four years ofclub licensing and the results. Feedback fromclubs and the Executive Committee was positive.

ComplianceThe unit completed ten spot checks focusing onthe 2007/08 season. Significant improvementswere noted. However, two national associations(Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina) failed theiryearly certification due to the non-application of internal procedures. The files of Albania and Turkey were referred to the Control andDisciplinary Body for further action. Proceedingsagainst Albania were concluded, while thoseagainst Turkey were still ongoing at the end of the period under review. Ten national associationswill again be visited during 2008/09.

National Associations



Competitions The Competitions Division was created this year as one of an extensive series of changes put in placefollowing the Football First organisational review. The UEFA administration now rests on three pillars –football activities, governance matters and revenuegeneration – all supported by common services suchas human resources and financial management.



National Team CompetitionsThe year under review produced some stunningfootball, culminating in the final round of theUEFA European Football Championship, whichtook place between 7 and 29 June in Austria and Switzerland. The sporting quality of thetournament – won in convincing style by anexciting and skilful Spanish squad – was praisedas the highest for many years. The standard oftournament organisation was also consideredexcellent.

In all, more than 1.143 million tickets were sold(similar to UEFA EURO 2004) and there were over4.2 million Fan Zone visitors. Early indicationsshow that, despite the absence of the England A team and the resultant lower figures in the UKmarket, TV viewing figures were nearly as high asfor UEFA EURO 2004, with close to 150 millionlive viewers on average per match. Once up andrunning, the official euro2008.com websiteregistered over 1.3 billion page views and 105million visits. There were 61 million visitors inJune alone – a four-fold increase over 2004.

In women’s football, Sweden played Denmark in a two-legged play-off for the right to joinGermany and Norway in the Women’s OlympicFootball Tournament played in Beijing in August2008. Sweden won the play-off 7-3 on aggregate.

Regarding future competitions, UEFA and UEFAEURO 2012 hosts, Poland and Ukraine, agreed inJanuary on the implementation of three thoroughaction plans in the areas of stadiums, generalinfrastructure (airports, accommodation andground transport) and telecommunications.Intensive activities followed in an effort to get allrelevant projects off the ground. In February thefirst meeting of the UEFA EURO 2012 SteeringGroup took place in Nyon.

Preparations for the next UEFA European Under-21 Championship final round, to take placein Sweden from 15 to 29 June 2009, continued togo smoothly. Two national football associations –Israel and Denmark – submitted bids to host thefinal round of the 2009-11 Under-21Championship. Preparations for the 2009 UEFAWomen’s EURO 2009 in Finland also continued.

The study on the future format of the EuropeanChampionship commissioned by the 2007 UEFA Congress was completed, with findingspresented at the meeting of the presidents and general secretaries of UEFA’s memberassociations held in Vienna on 28 June. Results showed that the 24-team format (six groups of four) would be the best option, and the UEFA Executive Committee approvedthis at its meeting in Bordeaux in September2008. A new coefficient calculation system fornational teams, guaranteeing a more reliableevaluation of teams’ real strength, was approvedand has entered into force.

Competitions



In addition, the final round of the 5th UEFAEuropean Futsal Championship took place inPortugal from 16 to 25 November. Spain werecrowned European champions for the third time,after an exciting final against Italy (3-1). For thefirst time ever, a futsal competition was broadcastworldwide, with uefa.com providing games forfree in territories where matches were notbroadcast on television. TV partners reportedimpressive figures, with SIC TV (Portugal)recording audience shares of between 25 and31% during matches involving the Portugueseteam. Eurosport TV figures have been growingsince 2003. Compared with 2003 and 2005, thehall occupancy rate was up by more than 15%, to 55% for the whole competition. The uefa.comoutcome was positive as well, with 1.1 millioncontent views for the month of November(201,000 in 2003 and 430,000 in 2005).

In November, the UEFA Executive Committeeapproved proposals that will see importantchanges to the structure of the main UEFA clubcompetitions with effect from the 2009/10season. Changes include: revised access to theUEFA Champions League favouring a largerrepresentation of countries and champions in the main competition, a new UEFA Cup formatinvolving a group phase with 48 clubs and arevised access list featuring four qualifyingrounds, and the abolition of the UEFA IntertotoCup. The third qualifying round of the UEFAChampions League and the whole of the UEFACup (to be known as the UEFA Europa Leaguefrom 2009/10) are to be marketed centrally.

In March, the Executive Committee appointedHamburg as host of the 2010 UEFA Cup (UEFAEuropa League) final and Madrid (SantiagoBernabéu) for the 2010 UEFA Champions Leaguefinal. Monaco was confirmed as host of the 2009,2010 and 2011 editions of the UEFA Super Cupand season kick-off events.

Club CompetitionsThe first UEFA Champions League final to beplayed on Russian soil, in Moscow, was aremarkable success from all perspectives.Manchester United won the trophy at the end ofan extremely thrilling and tight game (1-1) and adramatic penalty shoot-out. An unprecedenteddecision to waive visa requirements for incomingsupporters can be seen as a breakthrough forfuture sport events. The first-ever final betweentwo English teams (beaten finalists were Chelsea)saw a sold-out stadium (with over 40,000spectators coming from outside Moscow on theday). Cooperation with the LOC turned out to bevery successful. The extraordinary location of theChampions Festival on Red Square must godown as a real landmark. Ticket sales to thegeneral public had been conducted on uefa.combetween 28 February and 19 March. Demand(around 125,000) far exceeded supply (10,500)and winners were chosen through a draw. Special security features were implemented anddistribution guidelines provided to the last eightclubs at a workshop in Nyon on 14 March.Average stadium occupancy rate in the groupphase was around 76%, slightly higher than the previous season.

The UEFA Cup final took place at a sold-out City of Manchester Stadium, where Zenit St.Petersburg won their first-ever UEFA trophy bydefeating Rangers 2-0. The organisation of thefinal went very smoothly. The FA, the localorganising committee (LOC) and Manchester Citywere cooperative and highly professionalpartners. Despite the difficult situation of morethan 100,000 ticketless Rangers fans travelling toManchester and the incidents in the city causedby a failure of the giant screen, the final can beconsidered a big success overall. Implementationof the centralised concept for the competition’squarter- and semi-finals was extremely successfuland well received by the clubs. Demand fortickets from the general public exceeded supply,with over 65,000 requests received for 11,000available tickets.

Under the shadow of the sudden death of the FC Sevilla player Antonio Puerta, the 2007 UEFASuper Cup match between AC Milan and FCSevilla saw a 2-1 win by the Italian club in a fullMonaco stadium. The behaviour of the twoteams, the officials and the supporters wasexemplary.

In the women’s game, 1. FFC Frankfurt (GER)beat Umeå IK (SWE) 4-3 on aggregate to becomethe first team to win a third UEFA Women’s Cuptitle, in front of a record 27,640 spectators inFrankfurt. Both matches were shown live inSweden on SVT 2, attracting market shares ofwell over 20%. Live broadcasting of the secondleg on ZDF attracted 1.23 million viewers (13.5%market share). The semi-final match betweenUmeå IK and Olympique Lyonnais of Franceattracted 12,575 spectators – a French record forwomen’s football.

The 2007/08 UEFA Futsal Cup finals took place in the magnificent Krylatskoe Arena in Moscow. Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, a team composedexclusively of home-grown players, won their firstFutsal Cup trophy, beating Spain’s ElPozo Murciaon penalties.

Competitions


Competition AdministrationThe 2007/08 season was a significant one for theUEFA Competition Administration Unit, with theaddition of two new competitions – the Women’sUnder-17 and Futsal Under-21 tournaments. A record number of more than 1,800 matcheswere played across Europe. To deal with the ever-growing number of matches, 14 newdelegates were introduced.

National associations were successfully providedwith access to the FAME software platform(standing for Football Administration andManagement Environment) in order to read anddownload club registration documents for thenew season. FAME is a web-based platformdeveloped by UEFA Media Technologies tomanage all UEFA business processes. It isplanned to make FAME the principal interface forcommunication between all teams and UEFA.Future developments are being explored in closecooperation with a selection of pilot associationsand clubs. Testing with the pilot teams will beginin the 2009/10 season and, depending on results,access will be expanded to other associationsand clubs with access to all in place for the2010/11 season.

Anti-DopingThe Anti-Doping Unit was very heavily involved in the UEFA EURO 2008 final round. Out-of-competition controls were conducted onthe 16 teams, with 10 players tested on eachvisit. During the tournament, two players per teamwere tested at each match, with some additionalplayers target-tested. The total number ofcontrols was close to 300. All players had toprovide blood and urine samples. The base camp of the 12 Doping Control Officers was inLausanne, the city whose laboratory had beenchosen to conduct all in-competition test analyses.

In its third season, UEFA’s out-of-competitiontesting programme involving the 32 UEFAChampions League teams functioned smoothly.During the 2007/08 season, 48 visits to clubswere conducted. The two teams that reached the final were tested four times during the season.In all, 477 players were tested and no positivecases were reported.

The in-competition testing programme saw 1,158players tested, including 722 analyses for EPO.Two positive cases were reported, oneconcerning the use of norandrosterone (anabolicagent), which resulted in a two-year ban, and onefor use of cannabis (Under-19 player), resulting ina two-month ban.

The Anti-Doping Panel met on 15 April at UEFAheadquarters in Nyon. The panel was updated on the longitudinal study under which a targetedgroup of players in Europe (six teams) will beblood and urine tested four times within one year.All the blood and urine parameters obtained foreach player will be subject to a scientific study by the WADA-accredited laboratory of Lausanne.The panel insisted on the formal approval of WADA.

Competitions 40 41UEFA Administration Report2007/08



Football DevelopmentEducation - coaching & grassroots

A major event by any yardstick was the launch at the UEFA Congress in Zagreb of the UEFA FootballDevelopment Study Group Scheme (SGS). Aimed at spreading knowledge, relating particularly to youth football development, better across Europe,the development was on the initiative of the UEFAPresident. Since the launch, a detailed administrationplan has been drawn up, including financial guidelines.All associations have registered. The scheme will havea major impact on the future budget of the division.

Also at the above-mentioned congress, amemorandum of understanding with the AEFCA (Alliance of European Football Coaches’Associations) was ratified. The document setsguidelines for cooperation between UEFA and the coaches’ association.

September 2007 brought a significant landmark,with the Coach Education Directors Symposiumin London marking the tenth anniversary of thesigning, by the first six national associations, ofthe UEFA Coaching Convention. High-profileguests and speakers included Sir TrevorBrooking, Fabio Capello and Gérard Houllier, andthe programme culminated with a practicalsession at the new Wembley. September alsosaw a gathering of the Elite Club Coaches Forum,with coaches hearing from the UEFA President onthe new UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cupproposals. An Elite Women’s Coaches Forum,attended by 17 top coaches, was held in Nyon in December.



RefereeingFollowing the reorganisation of UEFA’sadministration, the Refereeing Unit joined theFootball Development Division on 1 November.

EURO 2008 was well controlled by the matchofficials, with only three red cards shown, nonefor tackles endangering the safety of anopponent. The officials in question had met for athree-day preparatory course in Zurich in April. A DVD with 13 clips clearly demonstrating theinstructions to be applied by referees waspresented to each of the 16 finalist teams. This initiative was much appreciated by thecoaches and the players.

Among the year’s most significant gatherings, 40 international women referees took part in the4th UEFA Course for Women Officials in Nyon inOctober. February saw the annual winter coursefor new international referees and elite andpremier referees in Cyprus, and May brought theannual gathering of referee talents and theirmentors once again in Nyon.

The unit has been involved in FIFA’s RefereeingAssistance Programme (RAP), with the head ofRefereeing among those invited to Zurich to helpset up a support network for the 20 Europeanreferees identified as candidates for the 2010FIFA World Cup.

The Development and Technical AssistanceCommittee met in April and stressed theimportance of maintaining the high standards set by UEFA for the education of coaches. It approved the relaunch of the Coaches’ Circle,with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Fergusoncontinuing as honorary leader for the next season.

The 17th UEFA Course for Coach Educators was also held in April at Cascais, near Lisbon. Big names such as Packie Bonner, Sir TrevorBrooking, Lars Lagerbäck and Luiz Felipe Scolaricontributed to the success of the event. The coaches’ portal within FAME becameoperational in June.

Also in June, the latest UEFA Summer ofGrassroots Football campaign got under way. It was anticipated that there would be more than4.6 million participants spread over all 53 memberassociations. The division also supportedsuccessful grassroots events in the run-up to theUEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup finals in Moscow and Manchester, as well as thestreetfootballworld grassroots event in celebrationof UEFA EURO 2008.

Medical MattersThe new UEFA Medical Committee met inNovember 2007 for the first time. A secondmeeting in April 2008 proposed that a forum forelite club doctors be held every two years,commended the idea of medical screening aspart of UEFA club licence conditions and agreedon the approval process for the new UEFA Anti-Doping Regulations. At the end of theseason, the injury study team led by Prof.Ekstrand submitted the final report on the UEFAChampions League injury study, involving 19 top clubs. A study collecting data on all injuries atUEFA EURO 2008 was prepared and carried out.Work was also conducted on injury studies from a number of youth tournaments.

Competitions - youth & amateurThe final round of the UEFA European Under-17Championship was played in May in the Antalyaregion of Turkey, with Spain prefiguring itssuccess in UEFA EURO 2008 by winning the titlefor the second time in a row. The tournament waswell organised, but attracted fewer spectatorsthan expected. The following week, the finalround of the first UEFA European Women’sUnder-17 Championship took place in Nyon.Germany dominated this new competition andwon the final 3-0 against France in front of over1,200 spectators. All four finalist teams qualifiedfor the first FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup.

Earlier in the period under review, the Austrian FAhad staged an outstanding UEFA EuropeanUnder-19 Championship final round. An effectivepromotional campaign resulted in excellentcrowds, with an average of over 4,000 spectatorsper game. There was also extensive mediacoverage, and 23 sponsors were involved. Eleven of the fifteen matches were broadcast livethroughout Europe. In the final, Spain repeatedtheir previous year’s victory by defeating a well-organised Greek team 1-0 in front of morethan 7,200 spectators. The UEFA EuropeanWomen’s Under-19 Championship final round,hosted by the Icelandic FA, concluded two daysafter the boys' tournament. Germany repeatedtheir previous year’s triumph by winning the final2-0 against England.

On the administrative side, February saw the firstmeeting of the UEFA Youth and Amateur FootballCommittee. A bureau for this committee was alsoset up, consisting of Viacheslav Koloskov(chairman), Jim Boyce and Ludovico Micallef. The 9th UEFA Elite Youth Football Conferencewas successfully organised in Cannes at the endof November.

Football Development



Governance and Legal AffairsCommercial Legal Services

In a busy year, Commercial Legal Services concludedover 460 agreements delivering revenue to UEFA inexcess of EUR 1.85 billion. These included media,sponsorship, licensing and services agreements across all of UEFA’s competitions, as well as severalagreements in respect of the host broadcastarrangements for EURO 2008.

On regulatory matters, this unit pursued, in collaboration with FIFA, appeals before the European Court of First Instance against the EuropeanCommission's decisions to approve the UK andBelgian lists of protected events of major importance to society. Both the UK and Belgian governmentsdecided that every EURO final round match should be placed on the list, meaning that even matches not involving a home nation had to be on free-to-airtelevision. UEFA doubts the legality of these lists.

In addition, the unit continued to take an active role inprotecting the commercial interests of UEFA and thoseof its individual member associations and stakeholders,for example taking action against third parties in the online environment.



Sports Legal ServicesSports Legal Services were involved in thedrafting of the Club Licensing Regulations andcompetition regulations, and supported memberassociations with the revision of their statutes.

Professional FootballServicesThis unit joined the division on 1 November as aresult of internal restructuring.

It continued its role of dealing with the differentfamilies in professional football, such as the clubs(ECA), leagues (EPFL) and players’ unions (FIFProEurope). A memorandum of understanding withFIFPro Europe was agreed in October 2007,including a detailed operational plan and adefinition of the “specificity of sport”. A memorandum of understanding with theEuropean Club Association (ECA) was signed inJanuary 2008, which formed part of the historicagreement whereby the Charleroi case wasdropped and the G14 dissolved. A review of thememorandum of understanding with the EPFL(Association of European Professional FootballLeagues) began during the year.

The clubs, leagues and players come togetherwith the governing bodies (UEFA and the nationalassociations) in the Professional Football StrategyCouncil, the administration of which falls under theresponsibility of Professional Football Services.

The unit also took care of the administrative sideof UEFA’s involvement in the European SocialDialogue – a forum organised under the auspicesof the European Union and involving the samegroups as in the Professional Football StrategyCouncil (associations, clubs, leagues, players).Initial steps have also been taken in developingrelations with other professional football groups(such as supporters) who have been attemptingto organise themselves at European level.

In addition to the abovementioned roles, the unitworked with other key stakeholder groups suchas national sports’ and European affairs’ministries, the Council of Europe, other Europeanteam sports, and universities (and the academiccommunity in general).

Finally, the unit has contributed to specific UEFA-wide projects such as the protection ofminors and encouraging youth development;financial fair play; a detailed legal study intoEuropean club structures; and the ongoingchallenge of having the specificity and autonomyof sport better recognised in European andinternational law.

Having originally overseen an internal UEFAdocumentation centre, the unit is now expectedto focus more closely on the different stakeholdergroups (“families”) in line with UEFA’s changingpriorities, while still maintaining a research role.

EU and Other MattersFollowing the adoption of the EuropeanCommission's White Paper on Sport, the work tohave the specificity and autonomy of sport betterrecognised, especially within the European Union,continued. UEFA agreed a common position withthe other major European sports federations inthis respect, which followed on from a Franco-Dutch governmental memorandum on the specificity of sport finalised in late 2007. Working in coordination with UEFA’s Brusselsoffice, various EU matters were also addressed,including the European Parliament report on theEU White Paper.

Corporate Legal ServicesOn the corporate legal side, many of the activitieswere devoted to EURO 2008. The operations ofEuro 2008 SA required a thorough risk analysis, a comprehensive insurance framework andappropriate action plans. For the first time, keypartners, such as the host associations, stadiumowners and volunteers, were co-insured byUEFA. A tax ruling between UEFA and the Swissand Austrian authorities under which players weresubject to a deductible income tax of 20% ontheir premiums was of particular importance. A monitored VAT refund scheme allowed UEFA to reclaim more than CHF 20 million.

In other corporate matters, full tax exemption forUEFA and all delegations (including players) forUEFA club competition finals was granted byGermany and the UK.

In risk management, the unit supported thenational associations with respect to theinsurance cover of UEFA tournaments during this period.

Event Legal ServicesFor EURO 2008, the Event Legal Services Unitensured full implementation of the rightsprotection programme. As well as conducting on-site patrols at each match, UEFA took actionin more than 650 rights infringement cases,including civil and criminal ticketing andcounterfeit matters.

Disciplinary Legal ServicesIn the reporting period, Disciplinary Services dealtwith almost 800 disciplinary cases that werebrought before the Control and Disciplinary Body.The heaviest workload was in the earlier part ofthe year. Serious crowd disturbances occurred inmatches involving clubs from Poland (Legia) andSerbia (Partizan), which resulted in the immediatedisqualification of the clubs concerned fromcompetitions in progress. The Appeals Bodyexamined various appeals and, among otherjudgments, overturned a decision of the Controland Disciplinary Body barring Portuguese clubFC Porto from the 2008/09 UEFA ChampionsLeague. From a disciplinary viewpoint, the EURO2008 final tournament was most impressive, as there were no major problems.

Statistics on Cards at EURO final tournaments

Regarding betting, the UEFA early warningsystem (EWS) revealed irregular betting patternsfor several UEFA club competition matches, all inthe qualifying stages. All of these matches wereplaced under investigation. In the ongoingendeavours to expand the EWS, UEFA concludedfurther agreements with major betting organisationsand companies specialised in the monitoring ofthe sports betting market. The major objectiveremains the immediate availability of data onirregular betting patterns.

Governance and Legal Affairs

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0Nb Yellow cards

Euro 2000

Nb Red cards Nb Y/R+Red cards

Euro 2004 Euro 2008

Nb Y/Red cards



CommunicationsPublic Affairs

In September, the UEFA President wrote to European Union heads of state and government, as well as their counterparts in the European EconomicArea and Turkey, calling on them to recognise thespecial nature of sport in the new EU Reform Treaty. He warned that over-commercialisation, in particularthrough the growing acquisition of clubs by new, profit-driven owners, posed a serious and urgent threatto the European sports model. A number of heads ofstate immediately voiced their support for the letter.



Brussels OfficeA particularly active year started with the Brussels office moving to a new location at 21 Rue Marie-Thérèse, in the heart of the European Union district.

The office coordinated UEFA’s lobbying efforts onthe European Parliament’s Report on the WhitePaper on Sport. It ultimately secured a veryfavourable outcome to the Parliament’s Resolutionon the White Paper. The final text signalled a majorreinforcement of the notion of specificity and offeredstrong support to a series of UEFA policies. It alsomanaged the European Commission’s endorsementin May of UEFA’s ‘home-grown players’ rule. The Commission’s backing for the rule marked asignificant political victory for UEFA and brought toan end five years of campaigning.

In November 2007, the office organised the firstUEFA-European Union Conference on Violence in Sport in Brussels. The UEFA President, Michel Platini, and the vice-president of theEuropean Commission, Franco Frattini, agreed anew action plan. The European Commission agreed to finance a training programme foroperational police officers and stadium stewardswhich will raise standards and spread best practiceacross Europe.

The Brussels office also devised the political andcommunications strategy for UEFA’s appeal to theEuropean Court of First Instance regarding theUnited Kingdom’s list of protected events. It alsohelped coordinated production of a 30-secondadvert on the fight against racism, which wasshown inside all UEFA EURO 2008 stadiums.

Corporate and SocialResponsibilityUEFA’s flagship tournament, EURO 2008, servedas a platform for six social responsibility projectscovering the following themes: respect for playersand referees, fair play and interculturalcommunication, football activities for disabledpeople, and Unite Against Racism. Fan embassieswere also set up in all host cities, and the Scorefor the Red Cross initiative raised some EUR 500,000 to help support the ICRC’srehabilitation project for mine victims inAfghanistan. Thankfully, only isolated acts ofracism and discrimination were reported byFootball Against Racism in Europe (FARE) duringthe tournament. The FARE action week washighlighted on matchday 3 of the UEFAChampions League.

The first-ever meeting of the UEFA Fair Play andSocial Responsibility Committee was held inNyon on 4 September 2007, chaired by UEFAvice-president Senes Erzik. The Homeless WorldCup was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in Julyand August 2007, featuring 500 participants from48 countries (23 of them within UEFA).

Media ServicesUEFA Media Services were responsible for andorganised the general communications, mediaservices and media facilities for several majorone-off events, in addition to carrying out theirdaily duties such as responding to mediaenquiries, drafting and publishing press releases,organising media interview days and writingvarious texts and speeches. In particular, the unithandled all media activities at the 32nd OrdinaryUEFA Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, in January,and at all UEFA Executive Committee meetingsthroughout the year.

At UEFA EURO 2008, media staff were operationalat the daily briefings in both Basel and Vienna forthe entire month of June. In August, arrangementsand preparations for the official annual MediaTask Force lunch in Monaco were coordinated.This was where the UEFA President publiclyunveiled his plans for changes to the UEFAChampions League access list to the worldwide media.

The highly successful Champions magazinecontinued to be produced and editoriallycontrolled by the unit throughout the 2007/08season, including a bespoke Spanish edition for the Trophy Tour of South America that wassupported by the Media Services Unit.

Publications In addition to its more regular work, such aspublication of uefadirect, this unit was involved in the production of the five books foreseen onEURO 2008. The unit also drafted the ExecutiveCommittee’s annual report and was responsiblefor the printing of the various post-tournamenttechnical reports.

Communications


The financial outcome is also very positive, with total gross revenue reaching EUR 785m. Net revenue for UEFA (after commission and hostbroadcasting costs) is up 35% on 2004 (+28% in Europe and +132% ex-Europe).

Further to the signal failure during match 29, the Germany v Turkey semi-final, UEFA receivedseveral complaints from broadcasters. After reviewing the issue and the nature of theclaims with the broadcasters, UEFA decided on a global settlement to be paid to allbroadcasters for the loss of the signal for 18minutes, proportionate to the overall fees paid for the rights. This gesture of goodwill was very much appreciated by the broadcasters. Delivery of tournament branding was alsoextremely successful.


MarketingUEFA EURO 2008

Broadcast rights

UEFA’s flagship competition for national teams was aresounding success, with the tournament very wellperceived by broadcasters in view of the quality of thefootball played. Broadcasters were also very happy withthe level of services delivered and the quality of matchcoverage. The broadcast platform (television, internet,mobile) that was delivered for EURO 2008 was thewidest ever for a European Championship, with a goodmix of traditional partners (ARD/ZDF, ITV/BBC, RAI) andnewcomers (M6, TVI, Sport TV). On a worldwide basis,it achieved a massive reach and very strong audiences,confirming the successful positioning of the EURO as atruly global asset with worldwide appeal.


Marketing

UEFA Champions League

Broadcast rightsThe Moscow final of the 2007/08 UEFAChampions League was the most-watched eventof the year in the UK, which provided both finalists,Chelsea and Manchester United. ITV’s figurespeaked at 14.6 million – a 60% market share –while a further 2 million watched on Sky Sports.

Sponsorship rightsThe final also proved to be another success story for the sponsors. Although Moscow is achallenging location, all sponsors, with theexception of Vodafone, leveraged the match to asimilar degree as previous finals. Vodafone has no business in Russia. From a brand perspective,the match was also a big success.

UEFA Cup

Broadcast rightsThe standard of teams reaching the latter stagesmade the competition very attractive and was very positive for the broadcasters in terms ofaudiences. This was a very good showcase forthe UEFA Cup and has contributed to thesuccessful launch of the sales campaign for thecentralised rights covering the 2009-12 cycle.

Sponsorship rightsBanco Santander and Carlsberg were thepartners most active in leveraging the event.




UEFA Super CupThe 2007 UEFA Super Cup, which was producedin HD for the first time, was shown in more than200 countries and territories and achievedexcellent viewing figures in the participatingteams’ markets (over 6 million in Italy and nearly3.9 million in Spain, both more than 30% marketshare). It was also a success for all sponsors, with great promotional activities by bothCarlsberg and Banco Santander, pushing theleverage for this competition to new heights. The match was played with a Nike ballspecifically designed for the occasion.

Under-21 Championship 2007The review of the 2007 final round showed that it achieved unprecedented exposure, withbroadcasters in more than 150 territoriesproviding over 800 hours of TV coverage. The cumulative audience increased by 19%compared with 2006, with audience highs ofclose to 5 million in Italy and 3 million in theNetherlands, as well as market shares in excessof 50% in Portugal and 42% in Serbia. TV audiences for the final were nearly double theprevious year’s. A very successful commercialsponsorship programme was delivered in theNetherlands, with income about 35% higher than the previous season. An ambitious eventpromotion programme was undertaken, with activities ranging from fan festivals to thecreative “hit squad” idea to support ticket sales.

2009-12 club competitions

Broadcast rightsFollowing intensive work to develop newmarketing strategies, the sales process for both the UEFA Champions League and the newcentralised UEFA Cup (UEFA Europa League)started in February 2008. It has already deliveredoverwhelming results in terms of exposure and revenue.

The UEFA Champions League media rightspackage comprises 146 matches and 34 matchnights per season, with the inclusion of the thirdqualifying round, the UEFA Super Cup and thespread of the first knockout round over fourmatch weeks. Acknowledging the convergence ofmedia technologies, UEFA’s strategy has adopteda time-based, rather than a technology-based,rights segmentation. The sales strategy is beingimplemented by TEAM Marketing. Sales for theUEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League (205 matchesper season) have also been handled by TEAMwith a view to providing more exposure and aconsistent platform for the entire competition.

Sponsorship rights – 2009-12UEFA Champions LeagueThe beer tender was won by Heineken, with theannouncement made just before the UEFAChampions League final in Moscow. Adidas willcontinue as ball supplier. Meanwhile, Konami hasbeen awarded the licence for the official videogame for the coming four seasons (2008-12).

BrandA thorough review of both the UEFA ChampionsLeague and UEFA Cup brands has taken place.This will be translated into a new or evolved visualidentity of the competitions for the 2009-12 cycle.

Marketing



CommercialUEFA EURO 2008 was where the various elements of the commercial programme all came together in an intense period of marketing, promotional andoperational activity. There were many notableachievements. Corporate hospitality programmeincome increased five-fold from UEFA EURO 2004.Royalties from the more than 50 product licenceagreements signed are expected to total around EUR 15 million. The UEFA EURO 2008 song “Bring en hei” by Baschi got to number one inSwitzerland. The undoubted jewels in the crown of the event promotion programme were, however, theeight official fan zones in the host cities, which offeredmembers of the public the opportunity to be part ofthe UEFA EURO 2008 experience.



The UEFA EURO 2008 licensing programmerepresented a significant step up from UEFAEURO 2004 in both quality and turnover.Highlights of the retail licensing programmeincluded the sale of over half a million items inAustria by Billa, the official licensed shop, andestimated total turnover of more than EUR 6.7million by Intersport, the official sports shop forlicensed products. This was above target. In thearea of music and entertainment, the mascotsongs by Shaggy proved very popular, with “Feelthe Rush” reaching number one in Germany.

In addition to UEFA EURO 2008, a strongcommercial and event promotion programme was developed for the 2007 European FutsalChampionship final round which took place inNovember in the Porto region of Portugal. The sponsorship programme was successfullymarketed with 16 sponsors on board (eightinternational companies and eight Portuguesecompanies), generating record revenue andstrong local promotion of the tournament. Themarketing programme generated over CHF 2.8million – 61% more than reckoned on at thestrategic planning phase. It was the first time this competition had been centrally marketed by UEFA’s Commercial Division. The strong result demonstrates that there is a definitecommercial potential for futsal if properlypromoted and marketed.

Despite the difficult weather and the inability ofthe two host country teams, Switzerland andAustria, to progress beyond the group stage, the official fan zones recorded a cumulativeattendance of 4.2 million visitors, with Viennahaving 1.1 million and Berne 750,000. The highestdaily total (120,000) was recorded in Vienna forthe Austria v Germany match.

The zones, which had a strong visual identity,appeared frequently in the media, with live feeds often used to enhance match coverage.There were many special fan zone moments too,such as the appearance of the Vienna SymphonyOrchestra with the Vienna Boys’ Choir andChristine Sturmer in Vienna on the opening dayand adidas’ coup of getting Zinedine Zidane toprovide coaching clinics for children. Indeed, theofficial fan zone became such an integral part ofUEFA EURO 2008 that the Spanish team delightedsupporters by paying an unexpected visit to theVienna zone on the morning of the final.

Initial feedback from sponsors suggests that thedelivery of the commercial activation programmefor UEFA EURO 2008 was highly successful. In order to provide them with enhanced mediaservicing, a comprehensive broadcastermonitoring service was put in place over the threemonths leading up to the event, to analyse thefulfilment of broadcaster obligations. Thirty daysbefore kick-off, sponsor-branded UEFA EURO2008 trailers were broadcast across all Europeanbroadcast territories, featuring Continental, JVC,Coca-Cola, Hyundai/Kia and MasterCard. At theevent, there was a significant brand presence atall eight fan zones. UBS created a series of publicviewing areas, the “UBS Arenas”, in 16 non-hostcities in Switzerland. Outside the host countries,Kia created “Kia Fests”, which were basicallypublic viewing events in partnership with cities, in selected locations in Germany and Spain.

Commercial partners made more use of the UEFA hospitality programme than ever before.The corporate hospitality programme was also a very significant success, with over 80,000packages sold to corporate clients by UEFA sales agent IMG. Gross turnover reachedapproximately EUR 140m. Feedback from clients was very positive.

Highlights of the event promotion programmeincluded a stunning light show, covering thewhole of the Zurich Grossmünster building, by Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstätter. German andSpanish team shirts decorated the streets ofVienna on the day of the final between those two nations. The EURO Experience Tour receivedaround 400,000 visitors in its six-month tour ofthe two host countries. The 35-metre hot-airballoon trophy either flew or was tethered in all host cities.

Commercial



FinanceUEFA’s financial reporting

The consolidated 2007/08 accounts are presented in a separate report in the same format as last year.The euro is the reporting currency because the lion’sshare of UEFA’s revenue and, consequently, the distribution and solidarity payments are recorded in Europe’s single currency.



Treasury – asset managementAll partners honoured their financial obligationson time, with some invoices due after the year-end closing date and the UEFA EURO 2008 final.

However, the turbulence on the financial marketsalso hit some of the banks that UEFA works with,including its main bank. Many meetings tookplace and external advice was sought tosafeguard UEFA’s – i.e. the member associations’– assets. Following an ad hoc meeting at the endof March involving, on UEFA’s side, the UEFAPresident; Marios N. Lefkaritis, as chairman of theFinance Committee; Geoffrey Thompson, as amember of the Finance Committee; the UEFAGeneral Secretary; and the director of the FinanceDivision, the decision was taken to opt for greaterdiversification by investing the equivalent of EUR 400-450 million in medium-term notes (i.e. tailor-made bonds) issued by banks with top ratings. Portions of EUR 25 million werepurchased with as many different banks aspossible and maturities scheduled every threemonths over the next four-year HatTrick period.At the same time, money market investmentswere reduced.

At the time this report was compiled, it could beconfirmed that all of UEFA’s investments hadbeen honoured on time and that the funds stilloutstanding and invested with more than 20international banks would all be honoured at100% on the relevant maturity dates, as capitalprotection at maturity date was guaranteed for allinvestments. However, a credit risk still exists, of course, as far as the solvency of all the banksin UEFA’s portfolio is concerned. The situation is constantly monitored. On the other hand, UEFA has not invested in shares and thereforecannot suffer at all from the drastic decrease in those values.

Strategic Financial OutlookIn a separate document, UEFA presents a six-year Strategic Financial Outlook, which isupdated on a yearly basis. The outlook is used as a management tool to assist with budget andfinancial planning. This long-term plan is also ofbenefit to the national associations.

Good result for 2007/08The 2007/08 net result of EUR 235.6 million isconsiderably higher than the budget approved by the 2007 UEFA Congress (EUR 200 million). This is mainly due to a very successful EURO2008 resulting from higher income than initiallyanticipated, as well as lower outgoing costs inimportant fields such as personnel expenses.

This net result is converted into equity andretained to finance UEFA’s following threefinancial years without a EURO when UEFA’saccounts consequently show a substantial yearlyloss of about EUR 60-70 million.

Total income for 2007/08 reached EUR 1.925billion, one billion of which was used to financeevent expenses, including the EUR 823 milliondistributed to the teams participating in thevarious UEFA competitions. EUR 425 million wasused to replenish the EURO Pool to finance the2008-12 HatTrick programme, while EUR 221million is earmarked for solidarity payments andincludes the EUR 43.5 million made available toclubs for their contribution to the success ofUEFA EURO 2008.

As already mentioned, full details, furtherinformation and charts are provided in theseparate 2007/08 Financial Report

The year in briefIn 2007/08, as is the case every four years, theEURO event leaves its mark in UEFA’s books.This means those responsible for finance andfinancial control face many additional challenges.This was particularly true this year when alltransactions of Euro 2008 SA were handled bythe Finance Division. More than 84,000transactions had to be entered and reconciled,many of them concerning ticket sales andhospitality packages, broadcast and sponsorshiprights, as well as all transactions related to thesale of unilateral packages and other services forUEFA’s host broadcasting activities.

2007/08 was also marked by very volatilecurrency exchange rates. With the Swiss francstill serving as UEFA’s official day-to-dayaccounting currency, significant non-realisedcurrency exchange losses have to be reported in UEFA’s reporting currency, the euro. UEFA’scurrency mix includes euros, pounds sterling, US dollars and Swiss francs, with all foreigncurrencies being on the downside compared withthe Swiss franc.

Finance



ServicesNew building

The period under review brought much progress on this important project which should see the new building delivered by the end of March 2010. In November, Botta Management was appointed asthe project management company. An internal steeringcommittee was also set up. All decisions are submittedto this body for approval. Four architects were invitedto submit plans to an architectural contest for the new building. The project of the Bassi Carella firm inGeneva was selected. At the end of the period, UEFA was working hard with the architects to finalise the project.



Language ServicesUEFA’s Language Services contributedsignificantly to communication within the UEFA football family, translating a record volumeof more than 3 million words in the course of theyear under review. In addition, UEFA EURO 2008saw the provision of interpreting at every dailymedia briefing and team press conference for thefirst time at a European Football Championship.Before that, an official media launch for UEFA’snew football dictionary took place at thebeginning of May at Bayern München’s Allianz Arena. Well over 5,000 copies had beensold by the end of the period under review.

Travel and ConferencesThe unit’s regular tasks consisted in bookingtransport and accommodation for a wide range of UEFA events.

Facility Management A study into the management of space at the Martinet – the Euro 2008 SA HQ – wasundertaken, with the aim of optimising theworking space made available at the end of thetournament, when most Euro 2008 SA contractsexpired. A complete reorganisation of the spaceavailable at the Villa La Falaise is envisaged, with the villa to be converted into a “guest annex”where the President and General Secretary canreceive visitors. A number of units were relocatedfollowing the organisational restructuring whichtook effect on 1 November 2007.

A project for new uniforms was launched, withfour pre-selected bidders asked to design andmanufacture both a woman’s and man’s uniform.

Human ResourcesAs at 30 June 2008, UEFA/UMET had 255employees on open-ended contracts, with anaverage age of 38. The average length of servicewas five years and there were 61% men and 39%women. The Euro 2008 SA workforce peakedduring the tournament, with 380 employees under contract. By the end of June, a third ofthese employees had already left the company.

To foster dialogue between employees andmanagement, a body of staff representatives was created. The kick-off meeting took place in November 2007 and the body will probablymeet four or five times a year. New, more clearlyworded staff regulations were drafted, including more generous handling of maternityand paternity leave. The General Secretaryapproved the introduction of new senior manager

positions, attainable only by UEFA managers withwide experience, significant responsibilities andhighly developed leadership skills. No more than5% of UEFA’s workforce are expected to acquirethe new status in the medium term.

The annual staff appraisal exercise wasconducted in June 2007, with all staff membersmeeting their line managers to review theirperformance and development, and with theresults serving as a basis for determining bonusallocations and salary increases. On average, 8% of the year’s payroll was made available forindividual bonus payments and 2.5% for salaryincreases. The significant increase in the bonuspot was due to the extraordinary financialsuccess of UEFA in 2007/08. At the end of2006/07, the directors decided on individualbonuses of 5%+1%, with salaries adapted by 1% for cost of living and 1.5% for individualincreases. Revised salaries were valid fromSeptember and bonuses paid the same month.

Services



The scale of operations (2,380 people, aproduction centre of 12,000m² and a globalbudget for the company this year of around CHF 200 million) was a challenge forUMET’s team. However, this challenge was risento not only with great professionalism, but alsowith a sense of team spirit that was a coresuccess factor – particularly when affected bytechnical issues outside UMET’s control in thetransmission of the Germany v Turkey semi-final.UMET was proud to count more than 18 differentnationalities in its team.

Stakeholders recognised the quality of UMET’sservice delivery, especially the televisionproduction. Moreover, a strong partnership was forged with the broadcasters, who are corepartners of UEFA. This was one of the key objectives.

Furthermore, UMET is confident that it completed the delivery of UEFA EURO 2008 within its initial budget.

UEFA Media Technologies “Delivering convergence” was the key mission of UEFAMedia Technologies (UMET) in 2007/08, with theservices delivered for the UEFA EURO 2008tournament needing to reflect the complexity andsophistication of today’s media world. Based on aninitial assessment of the massive operations realised forthe tournament, the three core missions assigned tothe company were very successfully completed. IT services were delivered seamlessly; the officialwebsite achieved at least 1 billion page views and 100 million visits, and serves as a new benchmark;and, of course, the first-ever host broadcast operationswere successfully undertaken.



Host broadcast operationsUEFA’s first production was recognised for itshigh quality and met all assigned objectives. The loss of signal that affected retransmission of the Germany v Turkey semi-final – affectinginternational retransmission three times in thesecond half (from the IBC and not the stadium) –was due to a combination of faulty securityequipment and the massive storm that struckVienna that night. This incident did not changethe perception of all broadcasters of the highquality of production and services that UMETdelivered to them on behalf of UEFA.

Our partners highlighted in particular our “totalfootball” approach – a pre-programme usinghelicopters to follow the buses, dressing rooms,players’ warm-ups etc. – as well as technicalinnovations affecting “on-pitch” coverage. These included the use of Spidercameras which hung above the pitch attached to fourwires and allowed a better tactical reading of thegame as well as close-ups of the players’emotions. Additional programming, such as theeight magazine shows, “The Definitive Guide toEURO 2008”, was also well received.

On the servicing side, UMET managed toincrease overall sales while generating positivefeedback from broadcasters. This was becausethe services provided were acknowledged bybroadcast partners as being tools to improve their own rights exploitation. All revenueprojections were met, even after – as acommercial goodwill gesture – all incomegenerated in match 29 from unilateral serviceswas returned due to the signal interruption.

euro2008.comThe official website for UEFA EURO 2008,euro2008.com, achieved traffic of 1.3 billion page views and 105 million visits. There were 61 million visitors in June alone (four times thenumber of visitors in 2004). With more than 30,000individual pages in 10 languages, the website –launched 100 days before the tournament started– offered unrivalled coverage of the competition,with a depth never seen before. Interactivity,allowing the constant involvement of internet users all over the world, was the most importantnew development. This took the form ofpermanent chat-rooms and online interviews withstar players, but especially the “live blog”, a newfeature describing the competition “minute byminute” each day from 12.00 onwards. The liveand delayed video services also placedunparalleled multimedia coverage at the disposalof users worldwide. UMET is currently calculatingthe media exposure value for the UEFA EURO2008 sponsors.

UEFA Media Technologies



IT servicesIT deliveries were UEFA’s most extensive ever, as UMET had to deliver all network infrastructureand hardware, all transmissions and all softwarededicated to the management of the tournament.An “IT command centre” in the InternationalBroadcast Centre (IBC) enabled permanentmonitoring and immediate reaction to any issuesthat arose. All services were delivered smoothly,to the satisfaction of users. For example, anaverage of 90% of helpdesk requests were fixedwithin the hour.

Critically, the FAME software platform functionedwith absolute reliability, managing all operationslinked to the tournament: the event side(transportation, ticketing, accommodation,accreditation), the TV side (50,000 TV servicesbooked online for the first time for such an event)and the sporting side (anti-doping, referees,results, disciplinary etc). UEFA EURO 2008 wasthe greatest possible challenge for FAME andshowed clearly that the application is totallyoperational and capable of managing all UEFA business.

Preparing for the futureUMET already has its eye on EURO 2012. Already six core staff with key knowledge of our UEFA EURO 2008 operations have beenintegrated into the team as part of an ongoingknowledge management process to ensure thatthe company is properly equipped to cope withthe challenges of the next edition of UEFA’sflagship tournament for national teams.

UEFA Media Technologies


Edited and produced by:UEFA Media Services, Communications Division.

Photographs by: 2008 Getty Images, Keystone, Lode Saidane,Stéphane Saint-Raymond (FIFPro presse),Sportsfile, UEFA, Philippe Woods.

Designed and printed by:Works Ltd., Leeds, England.

Copyright UEFA. All UEFA names and logos areregistered trademarks of UEFA. All rights reserved.

Impressum 78 79UEFA Administration Report2007/08


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