Club football takes centre stage
Sunday, February 3, 2002
Article summary
Key European club issues are on the agenda for the UEFA Club Workshop, starting Monday 4 February.
Article body
Key European club football issues are on the agenda for the annual UEFA Club Workshop, which takes place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 February.
Major clubs attend
Europe's major clubs - the 64 clubs represented on UEFA's Club Panel together with nine clubs who are still involved in this season's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, but who are not Club Panel members - will attend the gathering.
UEFA Cup format
The workshop will focus on the future format of the UEFA Cup, as part of a consultation process on Europe's second major club competition. UEFA has received a number of proposals and is considering a variety of alternatives before taking any decision on whether to change the competition's format. The issue of entry into the competition is likely to be a major discussion point at the workshop.
Marketing contract
UEFA will also be updating the clubs on the UEFA Champions League marketing agency contract. The UEFA Executive Committee decided in Porto last Thursday to select Swiss-based agency T.E.A.M. Marketing AG as UEFA's partner for the period between 2003 and 2006.
Transfer windows
Discussions will centre on transfer windows, in the wake of last week's recommendation by UEFA to its 51 member associations to adopt harmonised domestic and international transfer windows from the 2002/03 season.
Uniform periods
The associations are being recommended to introduce uniform transfer periods for European professional football covering a summer period from the end of the domestic season to 31 August, and a winter period from 1 to 31 January, with special provisions made for countries whose seasons run in the calendar year. UEFA has said that each association will be entitled to consider the recommendation before deciding on an appropriate system.
Club licensing
The clubs will be informed about the progress of UEFA's club licensing system, which UEFA plans to introduce from the 2004/05 season as a means of improving quality standards in European football.
TV rights and artificial turf
Other items of discussion will be UEFA's talks with the European Commission concerning UEFA Champions League TV rights, and current and future developments regarding the use of artificial turf for top-level matches.
