FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY LAUNCHED

UEFA president Michel Platini and general secretary Gianni Infantino have used a media briefing in Monacoto launch its financial fair play initiative, which features 11 values aimed at securing the future of Europeanfootball. "The financial fair play concept has been launched to safeguard the long-term health of Europeanfootball," said Infantino. "One of the project's key requirements is to force clubs to finance their businessactivities with the resources they generate themselves." A UEFA Club Financial Control Panel chaired byformer Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene will monitor clubs with the concept being implemented instages between 2010 and 2012. "The clubs … know perfectly well what they will have to face from now on.We have had years of anarchy before, and there was a need to put proper rules in place,” who alsoreassured the media over concerns that Poland and the Ukraine will not be ready to stage Euro 2012."Poland and Ukraine have made great efforts in recent months and things have moved ahead positively,"added Platini. "We are very confident that everything will be ready by the set deadlines. To help [Poland andUkraine], we are deploying as many experts as we can to assist and work with the authorities and localorganisers. You can consider that the ultimatum no longer exists. The stadia, the roads will be built but boththese countries are asking our help in providing advisers and guidance. For example, in Kharkov in Ukrainethey normally have a dozen flights a day to deal with; but on the day of a match they will have 100 in an hour.They need a lot of advice to help them organise all of that. “So we’re going to double the support teams and,instead of sending them in a few months early, they’ll be working there from a year and a half out.”