No seeding for Portugal play-offs

Five winners
The committee decided at its meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia on Wednesday that the ten qualifying group runners-up will be drawn from the same pot for the five play-off matches in November. The five winners of the play-offs, which will be played over two legs, will go through to the EURO 2004™ finals in Portugal next summer.

'Simplest and fairest'
"The UEFA Executive Committee decided unanimously to maintain the system of no seeding for the play-off draw procedure," said UEFA communications and public affairs director Mike Lee. "The committee took the view that this procedure is the simplest and fairest for the play-offs."

Frankfurt venue
He added: "The draw will take place in Frankfurt on 13 October, and the games will be played on 15/16 November and 18/19 November," he added. The second-placed teams will know their fate at the Airport Sheraton in Frankfurt on 13 October at 12.15 CET. At the draw, two balls will be taken from the pot to determine the first fixture, and the first-drawn team will play the first match at home. The procedure will be repeated until all of the teams have been paired into five fixtures.

Five through
Ten group-winners and the hosts Portugal will be joined by the five play-off winners in EURO 2004™. Last week's qualifying matches saw Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France and Sweden go through to the final round after winning their respective groups. However, the situation is still excitingly poised in several other qualifying groups, with the final round of matches on 11 October.

Final-round draw
The UEFA Executive Committee also discussed the draw procedure for the EURO 2004™ final round. Under the procedure, four teams will be seeded for the draw, including France, European title-winners in Belgium and the Netherlands four years ago. Portugal are automatically seeded as the host nation.

Coefficient counts
Four final-round groups of four teams will be drawn at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon on 30 November at 12.00 CET, and the 16 teams to take part will be grouped according to their coefficient rankings.

Under-21s discussed
Another item on the Executive Committee's agenda on the first day of its Bratislava meeting was the draw procedure for the 2002/2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs. This draw will also take place in Frankfurt on 13 October.

Winners seeded
Sixteen teams will be involved in the draw for eight play-off matches, to be played on a home-and-away basis on 15/16 November and 18/19 November - ten group winners and six best runners-up, the latter determined according to various criteria. The six best group-winners will be seeded for the draw.