Brou beats Portugal drum

By Rui Matos Pereira

Calm and affable. Those are the qualities everyone associates with Ângelo Brou, executive member of the Euro 2004, S.A. Board and first vice-president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).

Sports enthusiast
Scratch under the surface, though, and you discover there is a whole lot more to this 63-year-old chemical and industrial engineer. A graduate of Porto University, with an MBA in management, he is also well practised in a range of sports.

'Good goalscorer'
He was, he recalls, a "good goalscorer" in both football and handball. But a "physical approach" - "I gave away too many fouls" - stymied his progress on the basketball court so he became a university table tennis champion instead.

Martial art
More recently, having moved to Lisbon from Porto and joined a gym there, Brou became an expert in the martial art, tae kwon do. "I have always tried to keep fit and when I came to Lisbon I joined a fitness centre and found myself in a tae kwon do class... by 2000 I was a black belt."

Boavista role
Football, however, was his first love - "I would play whenever I could" - and an offer from then Boavista FC president Silva Reis allowed him to put that passion to good use in a position as manager of the club's handball section. That was in 1964, and to this day Brou remains on the Porto club's general council.

Moving away
His most prominent role at the Bessa stadium was as vice-president, which he filled for five years between 1985 and 1990 when his work took him away to Lisbon. Boavista's loss would be the FPF's gain though.

Social aspect
In 1998 he was invited by the Portuguese League to take over as the FPF's first vice-president. He accepted because "football is a very important sport in this country, particularly where the social development of young people is concerned".

Euro challenge
Another "challenge" came when FPF president and chairman of the Euro 2004, S.A. Board, Gilberto Madaíl, asked him to join the UEFA EURO 2004™ organising committee as an executive board member. "The president challenged me to accept the role, which I was proud to do as it was an opportunity to take part in organising what is a major event for Portuguese football and for the country as a whole."

Role model
And so far everything has gone to plan. "The joint venture between the FPF and UEFA, or Euro 2004, S.A., has been extremely positive and the levels of cooperation and organisation involved are a role model to follow. The project goes beyond national and social borders."

Portugal's profile
Brou's own duties are on the commercial side and involve working with tournament partners in Portugal and licensing matters. He has played a part in negotiations with the host cities and acted as Euro 2004, S.A. representative on the Euro 2004 Accommodation Agency as well as being a member of a commission following up a report by Portugal's Investment, Trade and Tourism Office on ways to raise the nation's profile.

Security issues
But there is more work to be done, he insists. "The aim," he said, "is to establish decentralised organisational structures in each of the host cities and stadiums. There are still important things to set up like stadium security through stadium assistants or stewards, and the volunteers programme which was successfully tested during the recent UEFA European Under-17 Championship."