Did you know?

UEFA was created in the Swiss city of Basel on June 15, 1954 and forms part of the the six continental confederations which are administered by the world's governing body FIFA.

Due to the number of national associations which fall under UEFA's auspices, and through its financial pulling power, UEFA enjoys relevant influence and plays a major role on the world football stage.

More than two hundred people are currently employed within the organisation, whose headquarters since 1995 can be found in Nyon (Switzerland), in the Geneva suburbs, after initially being based in Berne.

UEFA's mission is mainly to organise and administer competitions between clubs (Champions League, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup) and countries (European championships, Under-21 and Under-18 European championships, Women's European championships) within Europe. All this constitutes around 1000 matches per season.

UEFA's current president is the Swede Lennart Johansson, who succeeded France's Jacques Georges in 1990. Germany's Gerhard Aigner occupied another important position of power within the organisation, that of director general, but stepped down in May, 2003 and was replaced by another Swede Lars-Christer Olsson.

Established

June 15, 1954 in Basel (Switzerland)

Address

Route de Genève 46, CH-1260 Nyon, Switzerland

Telephone

0041 (0) 848 00 2727 Fax : 0041 (0) 848 01 2727

Internet address

www.uefa.com

President

Michel Platini (France): Platini succeeded Swede Lennart Johansson who had been in office for 17 years on January 26, 2007. A highly gifted player, two of Platini's more memorable moments was leading France to the European championship in 1984 and Juventus to the 1985 European Cup.

General Secretary

David Taylor (Scotland)

Consecutive presidents

Ebbe Schwartz (Den, 1954-62), Gustav Wiederkehr (Swi, 1962-72), Artemio Franchi (Ita, 1973-1983), Jacques Georges (Fra, 1984-1990), Lennart Johansson (Swe, 1990-2007)

General secretaries

Henri Delaunay (Fra/1954-55), Pierre Delaunay (Fra/1956-59), Hans Bangerter (Swi/1960-88), Gerhard Aigner (Ger/1989-May 2003), Lars-Christer Olsson (Swe/May 2003-February 2007)

Members (52 countries plus one provisional country)

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaidjan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Isles, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro (provisional), Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San-Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales, Yugoslavia.