UEFA's annual venue directors' workshop at the House of European Football on the shores of Lake Geneva is looking at a wide spectrum of topics linked to the task of guaranteeing that every operation involved within a UEFA game – and, in particular, at matches in Europe's most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League – pass off without a hitch at Europe's various match venues.
The venue directors are joined by club officials, representatives of UEFA's official marketing agency partners for the Champions League, TEAM Marketing, and the UEFA media officers who are responsible for media-related matters at UEFA matches.
UEFA's venue directors fulfil a variety of roles at matches. They are the leader of the on-site operations at a venue, guaranteeing compliance of event rights, co-ordinating between commercial partners and the clubs, acting as UEFA's main contact to the clubs involved, and supporting visiting clubs, match delegates and the referees.
"Venue directors are, in a way, the extended arm of the UEFA administration at the venues," UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner told the workshop participants.
"We consider that you fulfil a very important task for the benefit of professional football.
"There is a high level of commitment among all those that we have appointed for this mission, which not only ensures the smooth running of our competitions, but which also underlines the strong brand and image of our organisation."
The workshop agenda features presentations on the Champions League from the point of view of clubs playing in the competition, the match delegate appointed by UEFA to represent the European body at matches, and the referees who take charge of the matches – with Scotland's Hugh Dallas, the fourth official at last year's FIFA World Cup final, highlighting the viewpoint of the refereeing teams.
Other presentations deal with security at UEFA Champions League matches, UEFA's campaign to eliminate racism from Europe's football stadiums, and the new Champions League format for the 2003/04 season, in which the second group stage will be replaced by a 16-team knockout phase.
European soccer governing body UEFA is this week hosting a two-day workshop for those responsible for the operational running of its matches with items on the agenda ranging from security to co-operating with commercial partners.
