UEFA to invest 44 million in grassroots football projects

"Making it easier for children to play and enjoy football is a crucial moment in UEFA's vision and the new programme," UEFA added in a statement.

Over the next four years, UEFA will invest some 44 million euros in grassroots football in Europe. Some 11 million euros will be allocated to the development of football in educational institutions.

This programme to promote football in a way that is accessible to all children was launched this Tuesday at the so-called 'Football Festival', held in the Republic Square in Ljubljana, coinciding with the start of the UEFA Executive Committee.

The meeting will also be held in order to decide the hosts for the finals of several UEFA competitions.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and a number of former football stars, including Portugal's Luis Figo, played an exhibition match alongside schoolchildren from Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia.

UEFA's programme is open to all 55 member associations over the next five years and represents a continuation of an eponymous pilot project launched in 2017 in Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Northern Macedonia, Northern Ireland and Russia.

The project is financed through the so-called 'HatTrick' solidarity and development programme, which will have 775 million euros at its disposal in the 2020-2024 cycle.

The UEFA Executive Committee will select the hosts of the Champions League finals in 2021, 2022 and 2023; the final of the Europa League 2021, the Supercup 2021, and the European Futsal Cup 2022 on Tuesday.