The first draws of the 2006/2007 UEFA club competitions will take place next Friday 23 June.

Malta’s Birkirkara (Champions League) and Sliema and Hibernians (UEFA Cup) will be waiting anxiously to know their opponents in the first round of the 2006-2007 competitions.

The pairings for the first two qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League and the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup will be made during ceremonies to be staged at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The draw ceremonies will be conducted by Jean Fournet-Fayard, member of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee and Michele Centenaro, UEFA Head of Club Competitions. The draw will be transmitted on uefa.com.

For the first time, Birkirkara will be seeded in the first qualifying round draw.

The Champions League competition will kick off first with Birkirkara playing in the first qualifying round with the first leg on 11 or 12 July and the second leg on 18 or 19 July.

Sliema and Hibs will be in action the same week, but one or two days later. The UEFA Cup first qualifying round, in fact, is set for 13 July (first leg) and 27 July (second leg).