The bidding process for UEFA EURO 2012 was the main item on the agenda of the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee being held between yesterday and today.

The meeting, at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, Attard, comes to an end this morning. At noon, UEFA is expected to nominate the final three bidders who will go on to a short list for the second phase of the procedure. Croatia/Hungary (joint bid), Greece, Italy, Poland/Ukraine (joint bid) and Turkey were bidding to stage the tournament in seven years’ time, and a final decision on the hosts will be taken in December 2006.

The Executive Committee also discussed the new model for the 2007 CAF/UEFA Meridian Cup, under the Meridian Project which provides for football co-operation between Europe and Africa. UEFA has decided to give fresh impetus to the Meridian Project, with activities focusing mainly on imparting technical training to youth football coaches and referees, and education on administrative and marketing matters to football administrators. The pan-African project will benefit all of Africa’s 52 national associations.

Principles for allocating vacant places in the UEFA Intertoto Cup will also be discussed. The eleven victorious sides from the Intertoto Cup third round will enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

The ranking system for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship together with deliberations on the competition format for the 2007/09 UEFA European Women’s Championship also had to be discussed.

The new competition is to have separate draws from those previously used for European Championships and World Cups. This means that the groups will be entirely different from the senior competitions with the finals being played every two years, in between the European Championship and the World Cup, which are held every four years. The first tournament under the new format will be held next year with the finals in 2007.