Described as a ‘new chapter in UEFA’s relationship with the European political authorities’ the UEFA EU representative will work out of a permanent base in Belgium’s capital.
At present, UEFA and other leading sports bodies are lobbying the EU for the legal recognition of the specific nature of sport in a future EU treaty, as well as the protection of the autonomy of sport's governing bodies – thereby enabling them to carry out their work ‘properly and free of unnecessary interference’ from political authorities at national and European level.
Said UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner: “UEFA needs to understand how the EU thinks about these questions.
"We must look for ways of co-operating with the various institutions. We must make sure that we get our message across, so that our political interlocutors understand how we think – and for this, we need a permanent presence in the EU's capital."
UEFA's Brussels office, which is located a short distance from the European parliament, will be headed by Jonathan Hill, who has lived and worked in the city since 1995, specialising in EU affairs.
The office is an integral part of the UEFA communications and public affairs division, which is based at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
Said Hill, who has been looking after the operation since April: “The idea of the Brussels office emerged in the spring of last year, there was a 12-month planning process regarding the cost and shape of the office, and UEFA then decided to go ahead.
"I don't think that an organisation such as UEFA, that has so much at stake, politically and commercially, could afford not to have an office in Brussels. There is a list of issues facing European football that are now debated at European level, and often the decisions are taken here."
UEFA has opened a new office in Brussels in a bid to deal more closely with European Union chiefs.
