UEFA associations meet in Sydney

UEFA's 53 member associations met in Sydney on Wednesday to discuss several topics in preparation for this week's FIFA Congress in the Australian city, and to receive an update on current UEFA matters.

'6+5' rule
The first item discussed was the FIFA Congress agenda. The first point was an update on the finances of FIFA. The meeting then focused on point 12.2 of the Congress agenda, dealing with: "Protection of national teams – '6 + 5' rule". UEFA President Michel Platini gave members an explanation of UEFA's position on the subject, which is that UEFA shares the philosophy of the '6+5' proposal, but remains conscious of the fact that it raises many potential difficulties.

Approved text
Firstly, such a rule would most likely be considered illegal in the European Union, as it violates the principle of free movement of persons which is a central pillar of the EU Treaty. Secondly, several stakeholders within the football family – in particular, certain clubs – have already declared their opposition to such a rule. Against this background, the following text, agreed by the FIFA President and the UEFA Executive Committee, was presented to the 53 UEFA member associations for approval at the upcoming FIFA Congress:
"The FIFA Congress fully supports the objectives of the '6+5' rule and asks the President of FIFA and the President of UEFA to continue to explore, together with the sports movement, all possible means within the limits of the law to ensure that these crucial sporting objectives be achieved."

Fully endorsed
The 53 UEFA member associations fully endorsed this text, as it contains all the key elements. That is to say, we need to pursue our efforts to achieve the objectives of the '6+5' (ie not the '6+5' itself) as we are committed to acting within the limits of the law. As a reminder, the objectives of the rule are, inter alia, to protect the national teams; to give national-team players a fair chance to play for their clubs in their national competitions; to ensure that clubs invest in the development of local players and to reward those clubs that do so; to foster the training and education of young players, while at the same time making certain that they are protected; and to protect the local identity of clubs.

Statutes amendments
The next FIFA Congress agenda item discussed was ratification of the WADA Code. In addition, certain amendments to the FIFA Statutes, the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes and Standing Orders of the Congress were examined. It was particularly welcomed that the FIFA Executive Committee has decided to "submit to the Congress for approval an amendment to the wording printed in the agenda of article 17, paragraph 1(d) of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes, whereby any player who assumes a new nationality shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only after having lived continuously for at least five (not two) years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of that association" and that "this restriction would be enforced immediately" (see FIFA Press Release of 27 May 2008). It was noted that point 14 of the FIFA Congress agenda – discussion about playing football in high altitude – was taken out of the agenda.

Current activities 
The 53 member associations were finally informed about various current UEFA activities, with an update being given on the following three topics:
• The specificity of sport, where important progress has been made in the last few weeks (see, for example, UEFA's press release No54 of 24 April 2008); Click here
• Social Dialogue, where an agreement has been reached between all relevant parties, namely UEFA (in its capacity as governing body of European football and with the UEFA President chairing the Social Dialogue Committee), FIFPro Division Europe (representing the players/employees), EPFL and ECA (representing the clubs/employers) and also the European Commission;
• Relations with the professional leagues, where everybody is looking forward to positive co-operation in the future for the good of the game.

Good news
In summary, UEFA was able to report very good news on all of these points. Further information on these and other matters will also be given at the Conference of the Presidents and General Secretaries of UEFA's 53 Member Associations, which will take place in Vienna on 28 June 2008.

Kosovo application
Finally, answering a question from the audience, it was clarified that, with regard to the application of the Kosovo football association, this would be handled in accordance with the procedure foreseen in the UEFA Statutes (see in particular Art. 5 para 1). Click here