UEFA CEO receives African award

UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner has received the Order of Merit of the African Football Confederation (CAF) for his services to African football.

Gold award
Mr Aigner was presented with the confederation's gold award by CAF president Issa Hayatou at a special ceremony in Bamako (Mali) on Wednesday to mark the opening of the CAF General Assembly. The assembly is taking place as a curtain-raiser to the 2002 African Cup of Nations, which begins in Mali on Saturday.

Ghana nomination
The UEFA CEO was due to receive the award at the CAF assembly in Ghana two years ago, but was unable to travel to Africa to receive the honour at the time.

Meridian Project
UEFA and CAF have been linked by an intensive co-operation programme – the Meridian Project – since 1997. Under the project, UEFA provides direct sporting and material support to designated African national football associations for two-year periods.

Meridian Cup
The two continents each send four youth teams to the Meridian Cup tournament, which is held every two years, with the venue alternating between Europe and Africa. The next tournament is scheduled to take place in Egypt in 2003.

Partnership programmes
Various partnership programmes between European and African national associations are also under way, and UEFA and CAF are seeking ways of further developing the programme by encouraging the expansion of partnership areas.