uefa.com, Switzerland
Developing nations given boost
Friday 21 September 2007
The 15 teams eliminated in the UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2009′
preliminary round last November are preparing for a
series of friendly mini-tournaments, held as part of
the European football governing body’s policy of
assisting the developing nations in the gap before
their next competitive games in 2009.
First fixtures
Four sets of matches will be played, and the first
fixtures begin next month, when from 26-31 October
F.Y.R. Macedonia will welcome Armenia, Georgia and
Croatia. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Malta will
compete at the Grbavica Stadium in Sarajevo from 29
October-2 November, and on that latter date in
Lithuania – the home nation – will begin their
competition with Estonia, the Faroe Islands and
Latvia. In the other event, hosts Turkey, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria and Kazakhstan play from 4-9 November.
Summer games
Another four mini-tournaments will be held in the
spring or summer of next year, with Lithuania, Malta
and Croatia in Estonia, Luxembourg welcoming the Faroe
Islands, Latvia and F.Y.R. Macedonia, Bulgaria at home
to Armenia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Azerbaijan hosting Kazakhstan and Georgia. The last
two mini-tournament rounds will take place in the
autumn and spring of the 2008/09 season. These games
are a development tool and results will not count
towards coefficients for future draws, the next of
which will be for 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup
qualifying.
‘Valuable experience’
UEFA Competition Manager Women’s Football, Anne
Vonnez-King, told uefa.com: "UEFA is pleased to put in
place this support programme in order to ensure the
continued development of these 15 associations. The
programme has been developed in close cooperation
between the Professional Football and Football
Development divisions and we hope that these teams
will gain valuable experience to stand them in good
stead for future UEFA A-team competitions, the next of
which will kick off in 2009."
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