Outsider to head EU review

The European Union (EU) and the European governing soccer UEFA will appoint somebody outside the game to oversee their review of soccer in the 25-member bloc.

"It will be someone with high profile, a good understanding of the workings of the EU, a knowledge of business and a genuine passion for the game," UEFA Chief Executive, Lars-Christer Olsson told Reuters this week.

Olsson made the announcement after a meeting with EU Education and Culture Commissioner Jan Figel and British Sports Minister Richard Caborn, who represented the 25 EU sports ministers.

"We will be appointing three other high profile people to oversee the three sub-committees of the review, political, financial and legal," Caborn told Reuters.

"We will be also holding oral hearings with the various stakeholders in the game and inviting anyone with an opinion on how the game should be run to write to us."

Caborn launched the independent review at a meeting in Leipzig in December which was attended by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

Both the British minister and Olsson came under fire from some sections of the media who questioned the independence of the review.

"I think this answers those critics," Caborn said.

The review, to be completed by the end of May, will focus on how European football authorities, the EU institutions and member states can best implement the Nice Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport at European and national level.

The distribution of revenue in soccer will be on their list of priorities, Caborn said.

Olsson said his organisation's proposals on this subject - already sent to FIFA - would be forwarded to the review board.

The "homegrown player" rule and the upcoming "Charleroi case" will also be examined in the review.

Locally trained players' quota

Last April in Estonia the UEFA Congress agreed on a new rule setting a minimum quota of locally trained players on a sliding scale starting from the 2006-07 season.

From next season, clubs entering UEFA competitions will have to have four 'locally trained' players, defined as players who have been registered for three seasons or years with the club between the ages of 15 and 21.

A question mark remains, however, over whether the rule is in breach of EU competition law.

The Charleroi case concerns a court case being taken by Belgian club Charleroi and the G14, representing 18 of Europe's richest clubs, against FIFA, seeking compensation for one of their players being injured while on international duty.

The G14 have joined French champions Olympique Lyon in a similar action.

This week, G-14 general manager Thomas Kurth told UEFA that if they wished to resolve the two cases they would need to focus on improved democracy in the governance and management of the game.

"Last week, UEFA passed a resolution defending the indefensible," Kurth told Reuters.

He was responding to a UEFA declaration in support of FIFA's rule regarding the release of players for international duty.

"G-14 has made it clear there isn't and never has been a threat to the national game and the only threat will be to the very comfortable and often opaque workings of the associations."