UEFA backs EU sport campaign

UEFA will be one of the partner bodies in the European Commission's European Year of Education Through Sport (EYES) in 2004.

'Move your body. Stretch your mind'
European football's governing body joins a host of other sporting bodies in giving its support to the campaign, which will run under the slogan 'Move your body. Stretch your mind'. Next summer's UEFA EURO 2004™ finals in Portugal have been proposed as a promotional platform for the campaign.

Promoting sport
With this pan-European project, the European Union is aiming to attract even more citizens to sport than is already the case. Every third EU citizen actively participates in some type of sport on a regular basis, and the number of sports associations in Europe also continues to increase, numbering more than 700,000 at present.

Educational context
Another purpose of the campaign is to stress the importance of sport in an educational context, as well as to increase the significance of physical activities in the school curriculum.

Sport's importance
"The partnership of sport and education has a long and vivid history in Europe," said Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Education and Culture, the initiator and sponsor of the campaign. "One in every three Europeans regularly practices a sport. Yet more needs to be done to make sports an integral part of people's education and life. Sport participation can contribute to all-round development, teaching social skills and a spirit of fair play, as well as self-awareness and a sense of competitiveness."

Dublin start
The campaign's official launch will take place at the start of next year in an opening event in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, which will feature several European sports personalities. UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner said: "We are pleased to be able to support the EU’s European Year Of Education Through Sport 2004. At UEFA we place a great deal of emphasis on youth training, and any initiative that gets young people playing more sport is one we fully endorse. We hope to be involved in a number of events next year supporting EYES 2004."

Further information about the EYES campaign can be found on the following website: www.eyes-2004.info