AKIPRESS.COM - The sustainability of football and the preservation of the game's integrity were key concerns of UEFA during the 2012/13 period, UEFA President Michel Platini and the UEFA Executive Committee said in their report to the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

"Eradicating scourges such as racism and all kinds of discrimination, match-fixing and all forms of sports fraud, the excessive losses of certain clubs and the risk of unbalanced competitions is no easy task," the report said. "Better education, prevention and punishment are the main tools for combating these threats, against which the European football family must take a united stance.

At the end of the period under review two new members were elected to the Executive Committee at the UEFA Congress in London, bringing their knowledge, fresh blood and new ideas to the discussion table. "The Executive Committee has always endeavoured to foster a spirit of consultation, and to act in the general interest of UEFA's numerous components," the report emphasised. "It intends to continue along the same path in its new composition, for although enlightenment comes when ideas collide, harmony ensures balance and stability."

All of UEFA's various key activities are covered in the report, including financial fair play, which will be implemented in full from the 2014/15 season. "One of the 11 fundamental values adopted by the 2009 UEFA Congress in Copenhagen and treated as a top priority ever since, financial fair play is designed to safeguard the long-term future of the clubs involved in UEFA competition by helping them to protect themselves from or escape the spiralling debts into which European club football has fallen over the years, despite earnings continuously rising."

The report noted the widespread support given to the measures by clubs and European political authorities: "Current analysis confirms that the clubs are aware of the need to clean up their act and adhere to the basic principle of financial fair play: that they should not spend more than they earn," the UEFA official press service reported.