Supporters

"The supporters are the lifeblood of professional football – they are the identity of the clubs. Owners, coaches and players change but supporters always remain." Michel Platini, 2009.

UEFA is committed to ensuring that the needs and viewpoints of supporters are taken into account.

That is why UEFA has officially backed the formation of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), an independent, representative and democratically organised European association of football supporters.

Since 2009, FSE has been recognised as the official interlocutor on fans' issues and as one of the key stakeholders of UEFA.

UEFA has engaged in a continuous dialogue with FSE on various matters as well as in support of the following particular initiatives and projects relating to fans' involvement:

• Annual meetings between FSE and relevant representatives from UEFA
• A seminar on fan hosting called Football, Host Cities and Respect
• The European Football Fans' Congress of FSE in 2008 (London), 2009 (Hamburg) 2010 (Barcelona) and 2011 (Brondby and Copenhagen)
• Fan embassy projects at major tournaments and anti-racism activities such as the UEFA EURO 2012 project: Respect Fan Culture

UEFA also backs the work of Supporters Direct across Europe, the organisation that advises fan groups on how to become involved in the ownership and running of their football clubs.

Supporters Direct is working together with UEFA to implement supporter liaison officers (SLO) at clubs as part of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.