Nous with a mouse

By Mark Chaplin

Major step
European football's governing body took a major step forward in 2001 when it decided to form UEFA New Media, a subsidiary company which would not only be responsible for building a top-notch European football website, but also explore and develop other activities in related fields.

Massive success
The move has proved a massive success. In 2004, both the uefa.com site and the official site of UEFA EURO 2004™ delivered more than one billion page impressions - proof of the power of the internet to promote European football and bring the game even closer to the fans.

Something big
"It was a bold step at the time for an organisation like UEFA," said Alexandre Fourtoy, the chief executive of the UEFA Media Technologies company which, following the merger with UEFA's IT network, has now succeeded UEFA New Media. "UEFA had seen the success of its initial internet operation, as well as the massive success of its EURO 2000™ website, and gave itself the means to create something big - now uefa.com is one of the biggest football websites in the world."

Technological side
However, Fourtoy emphasises that uefa.com is merely the visible part of a myriad of activities that UEFA is pursuing in the new media and technology world. "We are obviously more than just a website," he said. "We are also a technology provider for UEFA to help it manage football rights and content in the digital world.

Sharing experience
"We also deliver, almost in real time, the goals from our competitions on mobile phones in more than 40 countries," added Fourtoy. "We deliver content and services to a lot of partners - including the European football family, the national associations and clubs - helping them to develop by sharing our content and know-how."

EURO boost
Last year's EURO final round in Portugal was a crucial event for Fourtoy and his team. "It was the concentration, in one month, of three years of discoveries, achievements and ideas," he said. "EURO 2004™ was a magnificent step in our history. It was a big challenge." The challenge paid off handsomely - euro2004.com received half a billion page views and more than 40 million visits to become one of the most popular sports event websites of all time.

Multilingual mouthpiece
There is also a clear understanding that to reach football fans all over the world, you cannot just spread the message in English. uefa.com now provides football news and views in nine languages - meaning that it can reach supporters across the globe.

Quality maintained
It is a huge undertaking - but Fourtoy is proud that quality has never suffered. "The traffic indicates that people are happy with [the website]," he reflected. "And not only the fans, but also journalists, see us as a trustworthy source of information."

Speed of development
UEFA's new media activities will continue to keep pace with the ever-changing evolution of this fascinating medium. "I feel lucky to be working in this environment, because it's never boring," Fourtoy explained. "Sometimes the speed of developments worries me, because it's very difficult to know where we'll be in ten years. Technology is developing in an amazing way month after month - but it's always fun!"