Ticket sales to the general public for the 2009 UEFA Cup final in Istanbul have kicked off – exclusively on uefa.com. The final of the prestigious European club competition will take place at the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on Wednesday 20 May from 20.45CET.

Application process
The international general public ticket sales process began on Monday 23 February at 12.00CET and will run until Friday 20 March at 18.00CET. The application process is carried out exclusively via uefa.com, with each applicant having to complete in full the online application form. Should the demand for final tickets exceed the supply, then every valid application will enter a lottery or ballot to decide the allocation of the 11,500 tickets that are being made available to the general public. These tickets are intended for neutral fans wishing to attend the final whoever the finalists may be, and in the event of a lottery each valid application will go into the ballot regardless of the time of submission, provided it falls within the application period.

UEFA Cup Final Ticket Sales Up and Running … read more »

With voting for the uefa.com users’ Team of 2008 now into its final week, uefa.com has asked some of Europe’s top stars to pick their best XI for 2008. Sergio Agüero, Javier Zanetti, Marcos Senna and Pepe have all had their say and we will be publishing their choices over the next two weeks. First up, though, is FC Barcelona prodigy Lionel Messi. Do you agree with his selections? Cast your votes by clicking here.

Lionel Messi’s team of 2008

Goalkeeper: Petr Čech (Chelsea FC)
He is very good between the sticks and also when he has to go out to intercept passes. He has very safe hands.

Right-back: Maicon (FC Internazionale Milano)
I like the style of this Brazilian right-back. He is quick, uses the ball well and makes good decisions when attacking.

Central defender: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United FC)
He is very good in the air and very strong on his feet. He is very hard to get past.

Central defender: Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
He is a leader, he has contagious optimism and he never loses the ball. He is a great team captain.

Left-back: Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord)
I know him from his days at Barcelona. He is spirited, determined, a good marker and contributes a lot in attack. He has had a good season at Feyenoord.

Right midfield: Javier Zanetti (FC Internazionale Milano)
He is a perfect example of a professional footballer: supportive, tireless and he gives everything on the pitch.

Central midfield: Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona)
I’ve picked my team-mate because I think the middle of the pitch is his natural habitat. He feels comfortable and dominates everything that happens in that area. He is a phenomenon.

Attacking midfield: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal FC)
He was my team-mate and my friend in the youth teams of Barcelona. He has grown a lot as a player and has had an excellent 2008.

Left midfield: Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona)
The last year has confirmed what a great player he is. He is always in the right place to help the team when they need him.

Forward: Sergio Agüero (Club Atlético de Madrid)
I love him and not just because he’s Argentinian! He plays like the gods, has extraordinary quality and a great instinct for scoring goals.

Forward: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United FC)
I love this type of player. He has a great shot, good control of the ball, uses of his body well in the area. He is a great goalscorer.

Coach: Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United FC)
Sir Alex, a gentleman, with all the titles. Manchester United won everything in 2008 and that makes him the coach of the year.

One of European football’s most historic competitions is being given a total makeover in 2009. The UEFA Cup, which was launched in the 1971/72 season, is to become the UEFA Europa League for the beginning of the 2009/10 campaign as work continues to enhance the image and profile of European club football’s second club competition.

The competition will have a new 48-team group stage with centralised marketing of media rights, a presenting sponsor and an official match ball. It will also have centralised sponsorship from the knockout stage and a new logo and visual identity. The revamping of the competition follows the decision by the UEFA Executive Committee on 30 November 2007 to alter the format of the UEFA Cup and create a group stage in which teams play each other on a home-and-away basis.

The new name and logo is designed to emphasise the special character and unique sporting appeal of a competition that has proved its worth over more than three decades. Europa is an ancient Greek word which is understandable in all languages. UEFA’s ambition in making these changes is to rejuvenate the competition in the light of the new European football landscape, which has shifted significantly with the continued success of the UEFA Champions League, so that the UEFA Europa League can establish itself as a major competition. “We believe that a new name and a new brand identity will help with sponsors and with the whole identity of the competition,” UEFA General Secretary David Taylor told uefa.com when the new name was announced at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Bordeaux in September.

The UEFA Europa League will feature 204 matches plus the final. The group stage will comprise 48 sides, split into 12 groups of four. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the knockout phase and will be joined by the eight clubs that finish the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in third place. The knockout stage, with 32 sides and four rounds, will lead to the final, played in a single match at a neutral venue. There will be four qualifying rounds instead of the current two, with an increased number of clubs as a result of the incorporation of places from the discontinued UEFA Intertoto Cup.

UEFA Europa League ties will be played on a Thursday night – or on a Wednesday night during exclusive UEFA Europa League weeks – with two kick-off times, in principle at 19.00 and 21.05CET according to local situations. The final will take place on a Wednesday at 20.45CET.

The British National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS) has won the UEFA-backed European Football Supporters Award for 2008. The prize will be presented at Wembley Stadium on 28 March next year at the friendly international match between England and Slovakia.

NADS, an association made up of volunteers which represents disabled supporters in the United Kingdom, aims to make the presence of handicapped supporters in football stadiums possible wherever it can be achieved, believing that the integration of disabled fans with able-bodied supporters will help the former with their overall social acceptance. Since its creation, NADS has dedicated itself to the resolution of such problems as obtaining tickets and the reservation of covered areas with good visibility of the pitch as well as access to toilets, bars, shops and club museums.

Originally known as the Brussels International Supporters Award, the prize has now been renamed the European Football Supporters Award in order to clearly confirm its roots in the domain of European football, where it is already established as one of the most appreciated trophies. Since its creation in 2005 by the City of Brussels and the Dialogic agency, the prize has also benefitted from the considerable support of UEFA, which recognises the importance of the role of supporters in football stadiums and fully appreciates the originality of an award that encourages ethics in sport.

When they created the award, 20 years after the Heysel tragedy in Brussels, the organisers first wanted to pay homage to the victims. That is the reason for which they decided to honour supporters for such behaviour as friendship between supporters, respect for opponents and the referee, fighting against all expressions of racism and xenophobia and the condemnation of all physical or verbal violence.

“The spontaneous support of leading sports organisations, such as UEFA and the IOC, as well as the richness of our list of prize-winners, demonstrates that the creation of the award responded to the expectations of the world of football,” Philippe Housiaux, spokesman for the European Football Supporters Award recently declared. “It is clear that the large majority of spectators want to see an atmosphere of friendship and brotherhood in the stadiums, far from the excesses of violence that have disturbed certain matches. For the public at large, football is above all a festive event.”

The venue for the opening game at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship has been opened to the public after construction was completed on the Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg.

Wernbloom approval
Host to three Group B games in next summer’s tournament as well as one of the semi-finals, the 16,700-capacity stadium will be home to three local clubs – GAIS Göteborg, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS – and fans as well as players from all three visited to enjoy a tour of the new arena. Göteborg forward Pontus Wernbloom, who has been a regular for Sweden’s U21 side this year, said: “It looks incredibly cool. Imagine what it’s going to feel like to run out on to the pitch here.”

Opening matches
Besides getting to see the new stadium, visitors could buy souvenirs, season tickets and warm themselves with hot mugs of glögg – Sweden’s traditional festive mulled wine. The Allsvenskan programme for 2009 has yet to be finalised, but the trio of clubs due to use the Gamla Ullevi have asked the Swedish Football Association to schedule the derby between Örgryte and GAIS as the first competitive match at the new ground. A few months later, the stadium will host the 2009 UEFA European U21 Championship opening game between Germany and Spain on 15 June.