004 - Joint committees to be created to discuss competitions, development, women's football and refereeing

The UEFA Executive Committee and the CONMEBOL Council today met at the House of European Football in Nyon and signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to replace the agreement that was signed in 2012. This new MoU forms the basis for an enhanced collaboration in a variety of domains to foster the development and growth of football on both continents.

The MoU aims to provide assistance and support between UEFA and CONMEBOL and their respective member associations in establishing and implementing projects and activities relating to:

Education, training, technical development and refereeing

Promotion and development of grassroots, youth and women's football

Organisation of men's, women's and youth football competitions, as well as futsal

Marketing, legal and social responsibility matters

Safety and security

Promotion of ethical and good governance principles in football

In order to advance cooperation on such projects, both governing bodies decided to create four joint committees to specifically focus on the following matters: competitions, development, women’s football and refereeing. Ad hoc commissions could also be formed to discuss other areas of cooperation when necessary.

Speaking after the meeting, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: "UEFA and CONMEBOL have a long history and tradition together, notably through epic and thrilling competitions such as the Artemio Franchi Trophy and the European/South American Cup.

"Today's agreement marks a first step in allowing UEFA and CONMEBOL to closely cooperate so that we can share expertise and knowledge for the development of the game on both continents.

"I would like to thank the CONMEBOL Council for coming to visit us and for the many good ideas they have brought to the table."

CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez, added: "We had been working for months on this in order to have a very constructive and fruitful meeting today, and I am delighted that CONMEBOL and UEFA agreed to cooperate further on a variety of topics.

"Together we can do a lot for the development of football and I am very much looking forward to this enhanced collaboration. This is just the beginning."

Other agreements reached today by UEFA and CONMEBOL include:

Refereeing

UEFA and CONMEBOL agreed to implement a referee exchange programme under which match officials from both organisations will be appointed to oversee international matches on each other's continent with a view to providing further experience for referees. This exchange programme could possibly see a team of UEFA match officials appointed for the group stage of the Copa América and a team of CONMEBOL match officials appointed for the group stage of UEFA EURO 2020. In addition, there will also be similar exchanges between the UEFA Champions League/Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Europa League/Copa Sudamericana.

Intercontinental matches

The possibility of staging European/South American intercontinental matches, for both women's and men's football and across a variety of age groups, was discussed and will be further examined by a joint UEFA/CONMEBOL committee in the coming months.

Women's football

It was agreed to jointly work on development strategy for women's football in individual national associations, and to cooperate in the creation of commercial concepts and networks.

Coaching

A working group will be set up to evaluate minimum criteria in respective Coaching Convention regulations with a view to future mutual recognition of coaching qualifications. Technical experts will be evaluating the implementation of coaching courses and the introduction of a Pro Licence student exchange programme allowing attendance at conferences or seminars and at tournaments as technical observers.

Development

It was agreed to work closely in the field of elite youth player development programmes, which aim to train and prepare elite players for professional careers at home and abroad, nurture higher quality players for domestic clubs, develop players' personalities, improve coaching and develop national scouting networks.