The UEFA Executive Committee approved a €2 million donation to the UEFA Foundation for Children in order to help child migrants in Europe and beyond.

The UEFA foundation, launched earlier this year, is to team up with various partner organisations on several initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the children suffering amid the present movement of mass migration.

“There has been a human tragedy these last weeks with the plight of the migrants in Europe,” UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said.

“And football, and UEFA, has to act and do something. This (donation) is to try and help, in a concrete way, children who are living through very sad days.”

Another important decision taken by the Exco during their meeting in Malta was the appointment of former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme as chief investigator of the two-chamber Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), which monitors compliance with UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.

“With Mr Leterme, UEFA has certainly found a capable man who was Prime Minister of Belgium, a lawyer, an economist, a man of experience; a man who knows and loves football as well,” Infantino said.

Infantino also delivered a positive update on preparations for Euro 2016 in France.

“Everything is going very smoothly,” Infantino said.

“We have an excellent relationship with the French Football Federation and the French authorities, and we are very much looking forward to a great event.”

Commenting on UEFA’s decision to expand next year’s European Champion-ship to 24 teams, Infantino said the initial scepticism has ebbed away as the qualifying competition has generated a lot of excitement with the middle-ranked nations stepping up their game to challenge for a place in the finals.

In Malta, the TEP meeting also discussed the introduction of a third competition for clubs, in addition to the Champions League and Europa League, but Infantino said talks were still at a very early stage.