Curtain rises in Cannes

The ninth UEFA Elite Youth Football Conference has got under way in Cannes, kicking off a three-day event when the future of younger players and their coaches will once again be top of the agenda.

Opportunity for feedback
The conference, which UEFA has organised in association with the French Football Federation (FFF) and which will be attended by more than 200 participants from across Europe, as well as a delegation from UEFA's African sister confederation CAF and AFC, the Asian Football Confederation, was opened on Tuesday afternoon by UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh, who laid out the aims for the week, saying: "This conference is an opportunity for UEFA to convey its plans for elite youth football in Europe – but mainly it's about you and your feedback from the associations."

'Great importance'
The conference participants were then greeted by Dr Viacheslav Koloskov, the chairman of UEFA's Youth and Amateur Football Committee and a member of the Executive Committees of both UEFA and FIFA. "These conferences are of great importance for the future of European youth football," said Dr Koloskov, who also looked ahead to the 2008 competitions. "This week will be a stimulus for the further development of youth football," he added. "I'm confident it will further the development in this field."

Escalettes welcome
Jean-Pierre Escalettes, the president of the FFF and a member of the UEFA National Associations Committee, also welcomed the delegates to Cannes, adding: "This is a real highlight of my career, because it is the top quality of the training that will secure the future of our sport and we must constantly seek to improve. It's a challenge we can't meet alone; we must work together to prove sport, and football in particular, is a noble vehicle. It's indispensable to the future of our youth."

'Key players'
There followed welcome speeches from Henri Leroy, the mayor of Mandelieu, and Jean-Paul Brigger, the head of FIFA's Technical Study Group, who said: "This will allow us to develop a strategy for the development of youth football, and the importance of this is paramount. As elite youth coaches, you're the key players." Once the opening ceremony had been completed, UEFA's head of football education Frank Ludolph outlined the programme for the next three days, before Roxburgh made the first presentation of the conference, entitled 'The Importance of Youth Development in Europe' which provided an overview of the many different challenges that face young players and their coaches.

Finals discussion
There followed a panel discussion on the 2007 final tournaments with the semi-finalists from both the UEFA European Under-17 and Under-19 Championship discussing their experiences at the final tournaments and what they, and their players, gained from the events. The conference continues on Wednesday morning, with the draw for the Elite rounds of the 2007/08 UEFA U17 and U19 competitions taking place in the afternoon.