HatTrick winners honoured

The official dinner of the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana gave UEFA the chance to honour member national associations for their excellence in a variety of fields, which earned five of them the inaugural UEFA HatTrick awards in 2013.

The HatTrick awards are open to all 54 UEFA member associations in five different categories – best investment project; best social project; best grassroots project; best women's football development project; and best special project. This initiative has two goals: to recognise efforts made by member associations, and to afford them greater exposure within and outside the football family.

The following associations won the 2013 HatTrick Awards, for which 31 projects were submitted by 23 national associations:

Best special project
Czech Republic (FAČR): Membership
Aimed at all levels of the game and providing good revenue streams to grassroots football through the distribution of funds through the local associations.

Best women's football development project
Northern Ireland (IFA): SCORE Pilot Project
Focuses on education and development. While encouraging the local population to become volunteers or coaches, the ultimate objective has been to get more young girls playing football.

Best investment project
Italy (FIGC): Città Azzurra del Calcio (Azzurri Football City)
Aims at generating new interest and support for the national teams. It is a role model for long-term investment in the promotion of national team football.

Best social project
Netherlands (KNVB): Football For Everyone
Focused on the topic of eliminating homophobia in sport – an issue that is relevant for all of society. The KNVB has set the trend for dealing with the issue.

Best grassroots project
Armenia (HFF): Schools Of Sport And Peace
The project has had a great impact on grassroots football in the country and is being used to tackle social problems.

UEFA President Michel Platini and UEFA HatTrick Committee chairman Allan Hansen presented UEFA Champions League final balls to Rudolf Řepka (FAČR general secretary), Jim Shaw (IFA president), Giancarlo Abete (FICG president), Michael van Praag (KNVB president) and Armen Minasyan (HFF vice-president).

Since 2003, the European governing body's HatTrick programme has assisted national associations across Europe. The objective has been to direct revenue generated by UEFA's major competitions back into football, and encourage associations to upgrade their facilities and develop the game on and off the field.