Search: 'UEFA'

Political pressure is being applied to Europe’s richest clubs and a wide-ranging recent report by a Belgian MEP has found an unlikely but powerful ally. Paul Joyce examines why

In March, the European Parliament took its first steps towards a firm commitment to sport by adopting Belgian MEP Ivo Belet’s report on the future of professional football in Europe. The document called upon the European Commission to resolve the legal uncertainties surrounding football, to facilitate the self-regulation of governing bodies such as UEFA and to tackle issues such as hooliganism, racism and money laundering. UEFA’s “home-grown players” initiative and the expansion of Supporters’ Trusts in Europe were also endorsed by the parliament.

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Hooliganism in the city that is hosting the Champions League final is getting worse. Unfortunately, as Paul Pomonis reports, government action seems sure to be ineffective

Speaking in the aftermath of the police death in Sicily in February, Giorgios Orfanos, Greece’s minister for sport, unfavourably compared the measures the Italian government had just announced with his own anti-hooligan policies. “Our decisions have been much more radical than a league shutdown. As a result, football-related violence in Greece cannot even compare with what is going on in Italy,” he said, adding: “For the last three years the number of sport-related violent incidents has been dropping… We have an ongoing problem and we’re dealing with it aggressively.”

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Poland and Ukraine win the race to host Euro 2012. Steve Menary reports

Was UEFA’s decision to award Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine really just extra punishment for match-fixing scandals and hooliganism in the favourite, Italy? The Italians had, after all, hosted the European Championship in 1968 and 1980 – albeit just four- and eight-team events respectively – and a World Cup in 1990. Poland and Ukraine have not hosted an international tournament of note. Apart from a four-team European Championship in Yugoslavia in 1976, no major tournament has ever been staged in eastern Europe.

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Sunday 1 “As the beaten team, you think all kinds of sinister motives,” says Steve Coppell, one step away from blaming the CIA for Robbie Keane’s disputed penalty as Spurs move up to sixth with a 1-0 home win against Reading. DJ Campbell scores twice as Birmingham defeat Coventry 3-0 to go back into second in the Championship. Hearts beat Hibs 1-0 at Easter Road.

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As some clubs impose a price freeze or even cuts in response to poor crowds, a campaign has been launched to give a fair deal to away fans. Tom Green reports

How much are you prepared to pay to watch a game of football? With millionaires on the pitch and billionaires taking over the clubs, is it fair that the fans should be paying more in England than anywhere else in the world?

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