Borg makes small clubs talk big at UEFA

Amidst all the euphoria surrounding Milan's winter training camp in Malta earlier this year, a Maltese man became the talk of a nation.

In local football circles, John Borg has been a household name for several years thanks to his long-standing association with Birkirkara FC but his popularity soared with all the media exposure given to his input in luring Milan to Malta.

The publicity devoted to Milan's visit to Malta prompted many to wonder how an official of a Maltese club could organise a venture of this magnitude.

A member of the European Club Forum (ECF) since its birth five years ago, Borg's status in European football made it possible for him to talk up our island's credentials as the perfect destination for Milan's winter training camp.

A couple of months before the first reports on Milan's planned tour of Malta appeared in local newspapers, I had expressed an interest in accompanying Borg on one of his visits to UEFA's headquarters in Nyon.

The purpose of my proposal was to get a clearer picture of his work as a member of the ECF and its main board. Late last month, Borg and I travelled to Switzerland for the first of two ECF plenary meetings scheduled for this year.

Borg has always struck me as an outspoken person and these qualities are surely serving him well in his prominent role as member of the ECF Board as the Birkirkara 'die-hard' has clearly gained the respect not only of the officials of the small clubs but also those who represent the interests of the continent's football heavyweights.

But who is John Borg? What led to him becoming involved in club administration?

His ascent to the pinnacle of European club football takes on added gloss when one considers that, until the age of 15, he lived in a country where football, or soccer, was not the most popular sport.

"I was born and bred in Australia where football was obviously not the no.1 sport," Borg told me when we sat down for this interview at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Geneva.

"Aussie Rules and cricket topped the bill in Australia but among the migrant community in Melbourne, football had no rivals. Being a football fanatic, my father encouraged me to play soccer and between the age of 10 and 15, I used to turn out for Green Gully Ajax.

"After my family returned to Malta, I joined Birkirkara but a combination of injuries and studies made it impossible for me to pursue a career in football.

"Nevertheless, my love for football and Birkirkara never waned. I have always been a staunch Birkirkara fan, never afraid to speak my mind but fair in my criticism of the team."

A familiar figure in the stands whenever Birkirkara - at the time struggling to establish themselves as a top-flight team - were in action, Borg's exuberance and outspokenness didn't go unnoticed by the club officials.

"My breakthrough in club administration came in 1989-90 when I formed part of the committee of the first Birkirkara Supporters Club," Borg, 44, recalled.

"After a year on this committee, I was approached by Joe Gauci to stand for election to the club committee.

"From the moment I got elected to the Birkirkara FC committee, I've never looked back. Initially, I was just an ordinary member of the committee but my first official role was that of Public Relations Officer.

"At the time, Birkirkara's relationship with the media in general left much to be desired, so my first priority was to rectify that problem.

"My connection with Birkirkara grew stronger when Victor Zammit became chairman of the club. On taking over the leadership of the club, Zammit teamed up with a group of persons determined to boost Birkirkara's reputation but lacking the resources to make that quantum leap forward.

"Birkirkara have gone from strength to strength since that eventful period in the club's history."

Over the past few years, Borg has occupied a diversity of roles on the Birkirkara committee but despite his somewhat love-hate relationship with his fellow officials, his status in local football began to rise on his becoming the ambassador of Maltese clubs on the European Club Forum.

"Five years ago, Lars-Christer Olsson, the then UEFA Chief Executive Officer, came up with the idea of setting up a consultative body made up of European clubs.

"The ECF was inaugurated in Monaco in 2002 and Birkirkara qualified to represent Maltese clubs for the first two-year cycle on the strength of our UEFA co-efficient.

"Victor Zammit and myself travelled to Monaco to witness the birth of this body.

"Within months from its creation, I realised that the forum could bring significant benefits for the clubs, especially the smaller ones.

"In simple terms, the ECF is like the parliament of European football."

Birkirkara's confirmation as Malta's representatives on the ECF strengthened Borg's resolve to push for a more influential role, especially in view of UEFA's decision to hold elections among the club delegates for 11 seats on the ECF Board.

As a member of the Blue Group, which comprises clubs such as Linfield (N. Ireland), B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands), Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus), TNS (Wales), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) and NK Domzale (Slovenia), Borg made up his mind to stand for election to the board in 2004. He was among six candidates from his group but with 13 votes, he was elected to the ECF board and appointed chairman of the Blue Group.

"The ECF Board members relay opinions and issues raised during meetings of their respective groups, directly to UEFA officials," Borg explained.

"The elected members are duty-in-bound to defend the interests of the clubs they stand for."

Solidarity payments

Sifting through the landmark decisions made by UEFA on the recommendation of the European Club Forum, Borg has no doubt as to which was the most important.

"In the second cycle of the ECF, we succeeded in adjusting the solidarity payments to clubs taking part in European competitions," Borg en-thused. "The decision was approved last year but the payments had been unchanged for 12 years.

"Clubs qualifying for the Champions League benefited from an almost 100 per cent increase in their participation income whereas the increment for those taking part in the UEFA and Intertoto Cups amounted to 30 per cent.

"I very much regard this development as a milestone for the small clubs. Before, the funds provided by UEFA were insufficient to cover the costs of taking part in their competitions but that's no longer the case."

On the ECF Board, Borg rubs shoulders with the likes of Karl Heinze Rummenigge of Bayern Munich, Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, and Peter Kenyon, of Chelsea.

"Although I represent a small club, I don't have problems getting my message across to the representatives of the top clubs," Borg remarked. "Rather than beg for more funding, I seek to create an awareness about the specific problems encountered by the small clubs.

"When the UEFA payments issue was first discussed, it was evident that the big clubs, the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, had no idea how crucial UEFA funding is for their smaller counterparts.

"Our challenge was to make the big clubs appreciate that, in monetary terms, what seems trivial to them, is vital for those further down the pecking order.

"Our message didn't fall on deaf ears as our plea to increase participation money for the smaller clubs was unanimously endorsed by the big guns."

In September last year, UEFA held another ECF Board election.

It speaks volumes of Borg's soaring reputation within the forum that out of 23 eligible votes in the Blue Group, he collected 22 to secure another three-year term on the ECF Board.

"My re-election to the ECF Board mirrors the faith the members of the Blue Group have in me," Borg said.

"We may not have the financial resources the bigger clubs have but we still have a crucial role to play in European football."

"I feel like I have found a niche where I can express my beliefs and ideas together with the members of the group I am part of," Borg added.

"My role in the ECF can open up new horizons for myself and all the football fans in Malta. Yet, I want to stress that my work within the ECF is purely on a voluntary basis.

"There is clearly a high degree of prestige attached to being part of this international forum but my commitment to the ECF is having a negative impact on my business because of the energy and time I have to invest in this role.

"Another point I would like to make is that, contrary to what many people might think, my involvement in the ECF is not just pleasure.

"As you have witnessed over the last two days, my work here started at 9 a.m. and only finished at 8 p.m.

"During a plenary meeting, the agenda is packed with subdivisions meetings, ECF Board talks and symposia involving all the members of the ECF and UEFA exponents.

"The whole process is time-consuming but I'm delighted that our work is being appreciated by the decision-makers at UEFA.

"From a local perspective, I feel we're lucky to have Dr Joe Mifsud, the president of the Malta FA, on UEFA's Executive Committee.

"As for UEFA, the importance they are giving to the ECF goes some way towards showing that they don't look at their club competitions as money-making machines," Borg continued.

"The work of the ECF also shows that UEFA genuinely cares for the well-being of all the clubs in the European football family."

The last ECF meeting gave UEFA president Michel Platini the chance to meet the clubs and spell out his own philosophy and views on how they and UEFA should co-operate.

Future European club competition formats, cost controls and salary caps were the main topics on the agenda.

European Club Forum... aims and duties

Set up in 2002, the principal aims and duties of the European Club Forum (ECF) are:

• to ensure co-operation between the clubs and UEFA within the framework of the UEFA statutes;

• to advise the UEFA Club Competitions Committee on problems relating to club football;

• to ensure direct communication between the professional football clubs and UEFA;

• to pool the expertise of UEFA and the clubs and to find new ways to work together and exchange information; and

• to co-operate with any other appropriate UEFA committee in matters related to professional football in Europe.

The ECF Board

The Board of the European Club Forum is composed of 11 members.

On behalf of the forum, the board members are responsible for presenting solutions and proposals to the UEFA Club Competitions Committee, and may submit suggestions or issue recommendations in areas such as club competition structures and formats, club licensing and international match calendars, and exchange views on current professional football topics.

The term of office of the European Club Forum is three years.