July 2 – UEFA has kicked off the fifth cycle of its HatTrick programme with a commitment to invest €775.5 million in the development of the game over the next four years.
“The UEFA HatTrick programme is a vital component of European football and its importance has never been clearer to see than during the COVID-19 crisis,” said UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin. “By lifting the conditions to release HatTrick funds to our associations, we have been able to limit the economic impact of the pandemic and look ahead to the resumption of our competitions.”
HatTrick invests profits from UEFA’s Euro tournaments. Despite the postponement of Euro2020 to 2021, UEFA reassured federations that it would honour the 2020-2024 cycle while at the same time announcing a more flexible use of €236.5 million of the funding to helps its 55 member associations who would struggle without match day revenue during the Covid-19 crisis.
HatTrick funding more usually targets three goals: increased investment funding, improved education, and wider knowledge-sharing.
The €775.5 million funding for the new programme is a 27% increase on the previous cycle. By 2024, UEFA says the HatTrick programme will have contributed €2.6 billion of Euro money to development.
“However, we must not stand still as the game returns. We must use HatTrick to continue taking football forwards, providing more opportunities, better infrastructure and higher quality to ensure European football remains as strong as it can possibly be,” said Ceferin.
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