UEFA committee supports independent review

UEFA has thrown its support behind the Independent European Sport Review.

The Professional Football Committee supported the reviews finding.

The report was issued earlier this summer, with a series of sporting and legal recommendations and proposals to stabilise the game and strengthen it legally.

The review was chaired by José Luis Arnaut, a former senior minister within the Portuguese government, and UEFA's management already welcomed its findings.

The committee expressed the view that the report is the right way forward for professional football in Europe.

"For the leagues and clubs, adoption of the recommendations of the Independent European Sports Review would be a major step forward," said committee chairman Sir David Richards, who is also chairman of the English Premier League.

"By combining clarity on rules and regulations, from a supporter's perspective, we become more transparent," he added. "These are real issues that need addressing, and we need a working mandate where people know exactly what terms and conditions they have to work with."

Professional Football Committee members are mainly presidents and chief executives of professional leagues, but national associations and individual clubs also are represented. The views of the big five western European countries are represented, as are the different regions of Europe.

The findings of this review demonstrated, among other things, a crucial need to have a formal structure for the relationship between the EU authorities and the European governing body for football.

The review also noted with concern that in recent times, several European countries have been hit with match-fixing and corruption scandals, linked to betting and to players' agents.

The review also cited the hazardous financial situations for many of the clubs, with bankruptcy cases and deficits of hundreds of millions of euros. In addition, the review showed concern about constant legal challenges to fundamental sports rules and practices which, it said, had undermined confidence in the system and created a climate of instability.

"It is absolutely necessary for the future of European football to have a more secure legal framework (with the EU)," said UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson, "which would be the best possible solution for clubs, national associations and the football governing bodies like FIFA and UEFA.

"I can see the only possible way forward for the clubs and national associations is to have some sort of agreement with the EU on how things should be organised in sports in general, but in football in particular."

Richards said issues such as illegal betting, gambling and illegal web-streaming were among the biggest external challenges that football was facing.

"We want fit and proper people running the game, who care about he game and look after it," he said. "We want better corporate governance in our game throughout."

The review is expected to be presented as a proposal for future legislation during the Finnish presidency of the EU in the autumn. Next spring, during the German presidency, it is hoped to finalise a proposal which could be accepted in time for the Portuguese presidency in autumn 2007.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.