Unchanged format

Old Trafford to host 2003 Champions League final

NYON, Switzerland (AP) -- Manchester United's 67,000 seater Old Trafford will stage the Champions Cup final in 2003, UEFA announced Thursday.

The decision means that Europe's most prestigious club competition will return to England for the first time since 1992 when Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 at Wembley. England has staged it five times.

The 2003 UEFA Cup final will be at Seville's Olympico Stadium.

This season's Champions Cup final is at Hampden Park, Glasgow, May 15 while the UEFA Cup final is at Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 8.

Format unchanged

European soccer's governing body also announced it would stick with the current Champions League 32-club format for at least another three years.

UEFA president Lennart Johansson said a study showed that while general interest in soccer seemed to have peaked, the Champions League was still in demand.

"We are stagnating. Which means we are not increasing but we are not decreasing," explained UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner. "We looked at the market very carefully and it's clear football is not enjoying the same degree of interest it used to. Television is choosing its matches.

"But Champions League is a top product and not the product they would abandon. Champions League is still enjoying a great deal of interest from the TV stations. Everyone is saying not to touch the Champions League."

UEFA said it would continue with the current format for at least another three years, from 2002-2003 to 2005-2006. But the situation could change.

"We cannot predict the future. We live in a turbulent world," Johansson said.

UEFA considered abandoning the second group phase of the Champions League -- less than three years after it was introduced -- reducing the number of match days from 17 to 13.

The second group phase of UEFA's flagship tournament was introduced in 1999. Previously there was a single round-robin group stage with the surviving clubs going into two-leg knockout matches similar to the UEFA Cup.

Aigner said big European clubs liked the introduction of the second group phase because it increased the number of matches, meaning more money and more time to play on the international stage. However, the demands on players also increased.

Aigner said there were no immediate plans to change the UEFA Cup's format. UEFA said it would decide on any reforms by the middle of next year.

In other matters, Johansson said he would meet with the four UEFA vice presidents Friday to compile a list of questions concerning FIFA's finances. UEFA and FIFA are to meet next week.

UEFA has been pressing for a full audit of FIFA since the collapse of the world body's marketing partner ISL/ISMM last May, which left debts of about US$300 million. Among the company's contracts were television and marketing rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Last month, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that a detailed account of FIFA's finances, carried out by independent auditors KPMF, concluded the body's financial situation had not changed substantially in the six month period between Dec. 31, 2000 and June 30, 2001, during which the ISMM/ISL group went bankrupt.

But the report has failed to satisfy UEFA.

"It was a report and not an audit," Johansson said. "We will ask the question and it will be official. We expect and demand a full audit by the end of the year."

FIFA is holding an extraordinary executive committee meeting Tuesday to deal purely with financial matters.

Johansson, who opposed Blatter in the campaign to lead FIFA, said he would personally support the Swiss at the next FIFA presidential elections in Seoul in May 2002 -- but only because there were no other candidates.

"I will support him and I trust the rest of UEFA will simply because there are no other candidates," Johansson said. "If there are no other candidates who stand -- and I will not be standing -- then we should support Mr. Blatter. If there are others then we must be free to take a new stand."

Kazakhstan accepted

UEFA also recommended the acceptance of Kazakhstan's request for affiliation to the next UEFA Congress in Stockholm in April.

A few months ago, UEFA gave Kazakstan provisional approval to join the European confederation on condition it formally give up its membership in UEFA's Asian counterpart. Kazakhstan straddles traditional boundaries between Europe and Asia.

The executive committee also decided to hold the UEFA Congress on an annual basis -- instead of every two years -- with elections to be held on even years.

It also asked the UEFA administration to continue negotiations with the two marketing agencies short-listed for the broadcasting rights for the next Champions League contract -- IMG and Team Marketing -- and report back to the executive committee in January 2002.

UEFA also asked Switzerland to act as hosts for the final tournament of the European under-21 championships in 2002.

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