Mr Čeferin visited the FAČR headquarters in Strahov on Wednesday to thank the association for its strong support in opposing a so-called “Super League”, as well as to discuss the UEFA Conference final League of this season, which will take place at the city’s Eden Arena.

The FAČR, alongside the other UEFA member national associations, is a strong supporter of the European sporting model, which is based on open competition, sporting merit and the crucial link between grassroots football and elite games.

The European model ensures that revenues from professional competitions are reinvested in the development of football, as evidenced by the fact that 97% of UEFA’s revenues are directly reinvested in sport.

The Czech Republic holds the EU Presidency from July to December this year and, following their meeting at the Prime Minister’s office, Mr Fiala also confirmed that Mr Čeferin would be invited to a conference of sports ministers in Brussels next week.

Reims “will have to be fined £22,000 per game until the end of the season, which will cost the club a TOTAL of £504,000, as his boss Will Still does not yet have the required UEFA Pro license to play. manage in Ligue 1”

• Reims caretaker boss Will Still is expected to stay until the end of the season
• Still was previously an assistant and took over as interim manager last month
• However, he does not have the required UEFA Pro license to manage in Ligue 1
• Reims should therefore be fined £22,000 per game until the end of the season

By Will Pickworth for Mailonline

Published: 11:48 a.m. EST, November 16, 2022 | Updated: 12:04 p.m. EST, November 16, 2022

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Nyon: Nasser Al Khelaifi, President of the European Club Association (ECA) and President of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) launched a message of unity at the last UEFA Convention on the future of European football .

Al Khelaifi, currently serving his second term on the UEFA Executive Committee, reaffirmed UEFA’s vision of working together as “one family” to ensure more open and inclusive European football competitions in the future.

“Since we last met, ECA has contributed greatly to the stability, unity and growth of European football. It is easy to forget how far we have come,” said Al Khelaifi.

“We represent nearly 250 clubs – small, medium and large – and the collective unity of our clubs could not be broken. Today we are stronger than ever. We are one family, and that helps us find solutions to all the challenges we face.

Al Khelaifi repeatedly rejected PSG’s invitations to join the European Super League when they launched a controversial game in April last year. ESL plans were scrapped after just 24 hours later due to huge backlash from the European football community, although A22 Sports Management, the company behind the breakaway concept, recently attempted to relaunch the plans that went off the rails.

“The future of European football must take into account the interests of all stakeholders,” he added. “All the leagues, all the clubs, the national associations, the supporters and all the communities that need our help. We especially need to think more about the fans,” said Al Khelaifi.

“Football is a link between clubs and players, between players and fans, between fans and communities. It is an invisible spirit that can never be broken, and the ECA will ensure that it never is. Nor do we need to tear things down to reform. We can achieve big positive changes within the system – UEFA and ECA have already shown this last year,” he added.

Meanwhile, UEFA and ECA have launched a joint venture which has already created huge business opportunities in France, the UK, the US and the Netherlands, underlining the current growth of European football.

The UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League also continue to grow in popularity, with an agreement in place – offered by the ECA – for the introduction of new competition formats after 2024.

In his address, which drew rapturous applause from delegates to the UEFA Convention, Al Khelaifi dismissed the idea that the current Champions League format does not live up to fans’ expectations.

“We hear that the Champions League is not exciting enough and European football is completely broken,” Al Khelaifi continued.

“But they keep playing in tournaments, I don’t understand. We hear that the Champions League is not competitive enough. But many top clubs failed to qualify from the group stages. It could have been my team – it’s football. No club has the divine right to win.

He concluded: “I’m not saying that everything is perfect. But at ECA we are proud of how we have brought European football together since we last met. We must never rest. This is just the beginning – there is so much more to do, in partnership with all stakeholders.”

The UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage resumes on Wednesday 23 November with two highly anticipated fixtures. We preview the action.

Where to watch: DAZN/YouTube

The first two confrontations

Coincidentally, in the four groups, the current top two meet over the next two matchdays. In Group A, Chelsea, who made a surprise group outing last season, may have been the choice of the 16 clubs so far with their 1-0 victory in Paris and 8-0 dismantling of Vllaznia. However, they face a Real Madrid side who are only two points behind and have already represented Manchester City in the first round. Madrid also boast of their City signing, Caroline Weir, who scored twice in her former side’s 3-1 League Cup final. defeat to Chelsea in March.

Also on Wednesday, debutants Roma and two-time champions Wolfsburg both put perfect Group B records on the line as the Italian side showed fine form in Serie A this season and produced a remarkable comeback for beat St. Pölten 4-3 on the 2nd day. They also beat Juventus on penalties to win the Italian Super Cup on November 5.

Two other teams who are yet to drop points face off against Barcelona on Thursday, on 13 Group D goals already and now return to Camp Nouhoping to repeat their 2018/19 semi-final loss to Bayern, who maintained their 100 per cent start by coming from behind to beat Benfica 3-2 on the second day. Georgia Stanway restored parity in the 83rd minute at Seixal before scoring the winner in injury time.

Finally, Juventus manager Joe Montemurro takes on his former club Arsenal, who are two points clear in Group C. One would have expected the two to battle it out for second place behind Lyon, but Arsenal won 5-1 away against the defending champions and Juve drew 1-1 when OL traveled to Turin.

Lyon and Paris in search of recovery

That Lyon and Paris are catching up in their groups is a huge surprise. Lyon, who won their eighth title last season, are three points behind second place in Group C after suffering that historic loss to Arsenal and then giving up a half-time lead against Juventus, with the likes of Ada Hegerberg, Griedge Mbock Bathy, Ellie Carpenter. , Catarina Macario and Sara Däbritz all ruled out.

Lyon visits Zürich, which they have scored 24 goals in his previous three European appearances. However, Juventus and Arsenal struggled to break down a very well organized Zurich side under Inka Grings.

Paris went from scoring 25 unanswered in their perfect six group wins last season to be without a goal or victory in Group A so far. They will be looking to put things right against Albanian frontrunners Vllaznia, who learned a hard lesson at Chelsea in their first away game. Paris, however, have not been at their incisive best in the absence of Marie-Antoinette Katoto, despite the arrival of Lieke Martens and helpful contributions from Kadidiatou Diani and Grace Geyoro.

Briefing Notes

• One of the Slavia or St. Pölten players will score their first group points against Mladá Boleslav, but both will regret not doing so against Roma. Benfica and Rosengård are also hoping to emerge from the pack, both of whom were comfortably beaten by Barcelona and gave up the lead against Bayern.

• As is customary in UEFA club competition home and away groups, these Matchday 3 fixtures will be reversed in a fortnight, kicking off an eventful conclusion where the final three sets will be played midweek consecutive.

UEFA met A22 Sports, the company backing a European Super League (ESL) project, in Nyon, Switzerland, on Tuesday and again rejected the idea of ​​a breakaway league, the governing body said.

The meeting brought together UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and officials from Europe’s top leagues as they met A22 Sports’ new CEO Bernd Reichart and its founders Anas Laghrari and John Hahn.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, President of the European Club Association (ECA) and President of Paris Saint-Germain, also attended the meeting along with the CEOs of several clubs and representatives of supporters’ associations.

“In line with the unity of European football, UEFA and the participating football stakeholders once again unanimously rejected the reasons behind projects such as the ESL during today’s discussion. today,” UEFA said in a statement.

“Participants took note, with surprise, of the claims by the CEO of A22 Sports that this company does not represent any club in any capacity, including the three clubs which continue to openly support the project.”

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were among 12 clubs to announce a breakaway Super League in April last year but, after a backlash from the entire game, including fans and governments, the move went down the drain. quickly collapsed.

All six English clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur – as well as Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid have withdrawn from the project.

However, Madrid, Barca and Juve continued to push the idea and after a court in Madrid prevented UEFA from punishing dissident clubs, the case was referred to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice. .

UEFA added that English clubs did not attend Tuesday’s meeting as they were due to attend a Premier League shareholders’ meeting.

Reichart, the former CEO of media company RTL Deutschland, was appointed as the new CEO of A22 Sports Management last month and said European football clubs were “behind in terms of opportunities”.

While the original idea of ​​the Super League suggested it would be a closed league of wealthy clubs, Reichart said there would be promotion and relegation.

Manchester United are reportedly set to keep tabs on a Juventus striker amid their striker search in the summer of 2023. United could be set to take advantage of Juventus’ poor form and UEFA doubts Champions League next season.

Erik Ten Hag wants to add a striker to his team next year. However, if United wanted to sign some of Europe’s top talent, they also needed to make sure they qualified for the Champions League.

United are playing in the Europa League this season after a poor end to the season last campaign. Under Ten Hag they look a much better team and are really pushing for a top four spot this season.

GENEVA –

After a string of uneven double-digit wins in European Women’s Championship qualifying, UEFA on Thursday announced a more balanced system with three tiers of national teams ahead of Euro 2025 and the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

A 14-0 win for Denmark over Georgia edged Spain’s 13-0 loss to Azerbaijan as the biggest victory in the Euro 2022 qualifying groups. These groups corresponded to the best and the worst countries of more than 50 countries that have developed at different rates.

UEFA has revamped women’s national team football in Europe – with a new Nations League competition like the European men’s teams – to find a remedy for lopsided games that have little sporting or commercial appeal.

There have also been double-digit wins for Italy, Germany and Scotland in Euro 2022 qualifying, while France have scored 44 goals and conceded none in their group of matches. eight games.

Even in the Euro 2022 final in July, hosts England won 8-0 against former world champions Norway.

“The revamped format is interconnected, dynamic and meritocratic, and aims to create a more competitive environment with greater sporting and commercial interest,” UEFA said in a statement.

A three-tier Nations League format, with 16 teams at the top level, will begin in autumn 2023.

Four winners from the top-tier four-team groups will advance to a Final Four event. The two finalists will also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, joining host France as European entries.

The Nations League standings, with promotion and relegation between the three tiers, will feed into the Euro 2025 qualifying competition which kicks off in European Spring 2024.

Eight countries will qualify directly for the 16-team Euro 2025 by winning or finishing second in the four top-tier groups. Seven other entries to Euro 2025 will be decided during the qualifiers scheduled for autumn 2024.

“We have built an open, competitive and continuous system where every game counts, a true reflection of the European sporting model,” said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. “I am convinced that this format will help all European national associations.”

___

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup

The report, unveiled at the UEFA Women’s National Team Coaches Conference on Monday, details in facts, figures, statistics and images the main tactical and technical developments of Unforgettable July Tournament in England.

Read the Women’s EURO 2022 technical report

“The UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 illustrated the vigorous development of women’s football,” the report said. “It was an important stepping stone on the way to UEFA’s medium and long-term goals of encouraging girls to get involved in the fully inclusive game of football.”

“This publication aims to provide a permanent record of a momentous and historic event.”

Observations and technical analyzes

UEFA’s team of technical observers at the tournament pooled their thoughts, observations and opinions to compile a comprehensive overview of a EURO that set new benchmarks for women’s football in terms of intelligence tactics, technical skills, fitness level and coaching acumen.

The technical report is the result of the work undertaken in England and the immediate aftermath of the event by a solid team of current and former coaches of the women’s national team: Gemma Grainger, Margret Kratz, Jayne Ludlow, Jarmo Matikainen, Anne Noë , Vera Pauw and Hope Powell, with additional contributions from former England goalkeeper David James and Juventus coach Joe Montemurro.

The report contains fascinating insights into all 31 England matches – with pride of place given to the memorable final between England and Germany at Wembley – and a wealth of statistics, graphs and figures provide information that adds substance to support the conclusions of the technical team.

Women’s EURO technical statistics

“We hope,” the report says, “that their feedback will be useful to coaches and coach educators committed to the rapid growth of women’s football and the development of players who could become the stars of future EUROs.”

Wiegman winner: England’s ‘unity’ rewarded

In a special interview for the report, England coach Sarina Wiegman shares her perspective on the tournament and highlights various reasons why the host team won their first ever Women’s EURO title. “There were so many moments that I’m really proud of,” she explains, choosing the main secret to her team’s success. “Maybe the decision-making by the team and being on the same page all the time.”

“When we play games we always talk about managing the game,” she adds, “but the way our team translated that on the pitch was so mature. We were together. We said we wanted to be an inspiration and that is what we have become.

Wiegman also reflects on the legacy left by the EURO. “I hope it’s a boost,” she said, “and that development can go faster at all levels… Every girl who wants to play must have access to football in schools. Go to school and being able to play football, or maybe other sports, helps with confidence, social and emotional development and it gives you confidence.

Mead and Oberdorf – stars of the show

The report focuses in particular on two players who particularly shone at the EURO: the English striker and Player of the Tournament Beth Mead – EURO co-top scorer – and German midfielder Lena Oberdorf, young player of the tournament.

“On offense,” the report states, “Mead had the courage to take on opponents in 1-on-1 situations, using his speed and excellent dribbling skills to disrupt and penetrate defensive blocks. exceptionally cool in its ability to twist, spin and finish.

“[Oberdorf] displays a maturity well beyond its 20 years. Despite her youth, she played with the awareness and flexibility of an experienced player, understanding her role and performing it with discipline and commitment.

Top 10 goals

The increase in the number of goals in the tournament included a number of classic keystrokes. The technical team have chosen their top ten, which – unsurprisingly – is led by the audacious backheel goal scored by England striker Alessia Russo (pictured) in the semi-final against Sweden. “The choice of the peloton”, agreed the observers.

The tournament team

The technical team completed their work on site during the Women’s EURO by choosing the The tournament team – which saw finalists England and Germany provide nine squad members, and a number of talented performers narrowly missed out on selection. “Any coach would love the chance to work with the Team of the Tournament,” the report said. “And with the exceptional players who remained on the bench.”

The Women’s EURO 2022 technical report is also available to read in French and German

Read technical reports from UEFA competitions