Thaindian News

MINSK, BELARUS (BNO NEWS) — The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Executive Committee on Monday completed its meeting in Minsk, Belarus and approved the official match schedule for the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2012 final round between June 8 and July 1st, 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

In Poland, Wroclaw and Poznan will host three group stage matches, while Gdansk will stage three group stage matches and a quarter-final. Warsaw will host three group stage fixtures, including the opening Group A game featuring Poland, a quarter-final and a semi-final. Poland will play their second group match in Warsaw, and their third in Wroclaw.

In Ukraine, Kharkiv and Lviv will stage three group stage matches. Donetsk will host three group stage games, a quarter-final and a semi-final. Kyiv will be the venue for three group stage matches, a quarter-final and the UEFA EURO 2012 final. Ukraine will play their opening Group D fixture in Kyiv, and their other two group games in Donetsk.

The Executive Committee also approved an amendment to the UEFA Europa League for the 2012-15 cycle, starting from season 2012/13. A new access list was approved that allocates fixed slots with direct access to the UEFA Europa League group stage for the cup winners of the six top-ranked associations. This allocation of slots has a direct impact on the qualification path, and adaptations will have to be made to the access list in order to accommodate these changes.

The host nation for the UEFA European Women’s Championship in 2013 was confirmed as Sweden, and the number of teams at the final tournament maintained at 12. The regulations for this tournament were also approved.

Slovenia and Slovakia were appointed as hosts for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final rounds in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Estonia and Lithuania were approved as hosts for the UEFA European Under-19 Championships in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Finally, the hosts for the UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championships in 2012 and 2013 will be Turkey and Wales respectively.

Cyprus was approved at Pro level of the UEFA Coaching Convention, and Albania and Portugal were added to the UEFA Grassroots Charter – making a total of 49 associations affiliated to the charter.

Regarding national association matters, the Executive Committee discussed the ongoing issue of the continued non-amendment of its statutes, in accordance with the version as presented by FIFA and UEFA in July 2010, by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation (NFSBiH). The Executive Committee agreed that the NFSBiH would have until 31 March 2011 to change its statutes, and if not, that it shall be suspended as a UEFA member, thereby depriving the NFSBiH of all its UEFA membership rights. The issue will now also be put before the next FIFA Executive Committee meeting.

The next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee will take place in Prague in early December.