Executive Committee's Nyon meeting kicks off 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
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UEFA EURO 2020 hosting, financial fair play and centralisation of media rights for European qualifying games head a packed agenda for UEFA's Executive Committee on Friday.
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UEFA's Executive Committee begins its 2013 programme with its first meeting of the year at the House of European Football in Nyon on Friday. UEFA EURO 2020 is on the agenda, together with club licensing and financial fair play.
The committee, chaired by UEFA President Michel Platini, will hear a status report on hosting criteria for the tournament in 2020. In December, the Executive Committee decided in Lausanne to stage UEFA EURO 2020 across Europe, rather than hold a tournament in one or two host countries. The bidding process is to be defined by the UEFA National Team Competitions Committee and presented to the Executive Committee for its rubber stamp.
An update will be given on UEFA club licensing and financial fair play matters, in particular in the wake of recent decisions taken by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, which was set up last summer to oversee the application of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.
Talks will also be held on the FIFA reform process and proposed amendments to the FIFA Statutes – a matter discussed by the presidents and general secretaries of Europe's national associations in Nyon on Thursday. This gathering was been requested by world football's governing body FIFA as part of a consultation process with all member associations regarding possible statutory amendments.
The committee will also debate the centralised European qualifiers project. UEFA has decided to centralise the media rights for all national-team qualifying matches from 2014. The move is aimed at helping national associations to make more money from their qualifying games, and ensure stable revenues from the qualifying phase, given that revenue would be disconnected from the draw results. A strengthening of the identity of national-team football is also a key objective behind the move.
The meeting will be followed by a press conference attended by both the UEFA President and UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino. The press conference will be broadcast live on UEFA.com.
The next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee is scheduled to take place on 28 March in Sofia, Bulgaria.