XXXIX Ordinary UEFA Congress in Vienna

Vienna is the focal point on Tuesday for Europe's football parliament, with a series of elections among the key items on the agenda of UEFA's XXXIX Ordinary Congress.

The UEFA Congress is being staged in the Austrian capital for the fourth time, with the city having an important place in the history of European football's governing body. Vienna hosted the inaugural UEFA Congress on 2 March 1955 – nine months after the organisation's founding by 31 European associations – where the first set of UEFA Statutes were approved.

Elections
Congress is UEFA's supreme governing organ and meets each year. Having come to Vienna in 1955, 1972 and 1994, UEFA and its member associations are in town once more, and will again be setting the tone for the future, with the associations electing those who will be guiding the game forward on this continent in the coming years.

Michel Platini is the only candidate in the election for the UEFA Presidency, and is seeking a third four-year term after his election in Dusseldorf in 2007 and re-election in Paris four years later.

Twelve candidates are standing for seven positions on UEFA's Executive Committee, with seven members' terms of office expiring this year:
Şenes Erzik (Turkey)
Sergei Fursenko (Russia)
Peter Gilliéron (Switzerland)
Borislav Mihaylov (Bulgaria)
Mircea Sandu (Romania)
Grigoriy Surkis (Ukraine)
Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain)

Four of those members are standing for re-election:
Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain)
Grigoriy Surkis (Ukraine)
Peter Gilliéron (Switzerland)
Borislav Mihaylov (Bulgaria)

The remaining eight candidates are:
Sándor Csányi (Hungary)
Fernando Gomes (Portugal)
Yngve Hallén (Norway)
Trefor Lloyd Hughes (Wales)
Campbell Ogilvie (Scotland)
Davor Šuker (Croatia)
Geir Thorsteinsson (Iceland)
Servet Yardımcı (Turkey)

The terms of office of four European members of the FIFA Executive Committee – those of Michel Platini (France), Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain), Jim Boyce (Northern Ireland) and Theo Zwanziger (Germany) – will end at the FIFA Congress to be held in Zurich from 28 to 29 May. The UEFA President will automatically become a FIFA vice-president.

Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain) is seeking a further mandate as FIFA vice-president, while Wolfgang Niersbach (Germany) is standing for election as a FIFA Executive Committee member. As far as the FIFA Executive Committee vice-presidency reserved for the four British associations (i.e. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) is concerned, two candidates are standing for election: David Gill (England), and Trefor Lloyd Hughes (Wales). All FIFA Executive Committee mandates are four-year terms.

Annual reports
The Congress will also be asked to approve the annual reports of the UEFA President and UEFA Executive Committee, and UEFA administration, as well as the annual consolidated statement of accounts for 2013/14 and the budget for 2015/16. Reports will also be given by the chairmen of the various UEFA standing committees that contribute to shaping UEFA's policy.

UEFA's week of activity in Vienna began with a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on Sunday.