Platini explains government approach

UEFA President Michel Platini has outlined his reasons for writing to European government heads to express his concern about developments within European football.

Open letter
Mr Platini said in a letter to the heads of government, made public last week, that the European game was threatened by "the malign and ever-present influence of money". In his letter, he said he feared that an era may be starting in which financial profit alone would be the measure of sporting success, and called for sport's specificity to be strengthened within the forthcoming EU Reform Treaty.

Footballing interests
"We are asking the political authorities to help us," Mr Platini said after the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Istanbul. "Football is an enormous social resource which has taken on an enormous dimension, but it exists in no treaty. A lot of money has come into football because of its popularity, but since a lot of money has come into the game, not many rules have come alongside this money, and this is what I regret. We are approaching political people to help us to be able to regulate ourselves in the interests of football."

Brave decisions
Turning to the issues of violence and racism in football stadiums, Mr Platini repeated the policy of zero tolerance towards those who engage in such conduct. "We can take strong decisions – if we have to exclude supporters from stadiums or suspend clubs, we will, until the day that we have people in the stadiums who come to watch football, not to cause problems." Mr Platini also said he would applaud any referee who, in agreement with the match delegate, decided to stop a game because of racist conduct in stadiums. "Some things are fundamental in life," he explained. "A football match is important but there is conduct that we cannot tolerate in the stadiums."

Licensing system
At its meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, the Executive Committee heard a report on the club licensing scheme after four years of implementation. It stressed the necessity of continuing the excellent work that has been done since the scheme was introduced at the start of the 2004/05 season. "Club licensing is extremely important for the development of European football," said UEFA General Secretary David Taylor. "All 53 national football associations have implemented the club licensing scheme, which is aimed at raising standards across a whole range of different areas in terms of club football. [The scheme] covers areas such as stadiums, coaching, youth teams, finances and medical standards, and great improvement effects have been seen across Europe. Club licensing is at the heart of what UEFA wants to do in terms of improving the game."

Other business
In other business, the Executive Committee confirmed a donation of CHF1m (€600,000) to the Hellenic Football Federation, to help finance the rebuilding of football facilities damaged by the recent fires in Greece. The dates of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden were slightly moved to avoid clashes with FIFA Confederations Cup matches. The tournament will now be played from 15 to 29 June 2009. In addition, a decision on the host associations for the 2009 and 2010 UEFA Ordinary Congresses was postponed to the next meeting of the Executive Committee in Lucerne, Switzerland on 30 November and 1 December.