FIFA CALENDAR

30 April – 1 May Zurich
70th Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup
25 May Sydney
Internal Audit Committee meeting
26 May Sydney
Finance Committee meeting
27 May Sydney
Executive Committee meeting
28 May Sydney
Confederations’ meetings
28 May Sydney
CONCACAF Congress
29-30 May Sydney
58th FIFA Congress
6 July Brasilia
Final Draw for the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2008
8 July Johannesburg
Meeting of the Board of the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
17-27 July
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Marseilles 2008
6-23 August
Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008
16 September Johannesburg
Meeting of the Board of the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South
AfriraTM
30 September-19 October
FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008
20 October Zurich
Meetings of the Sports Medical Committee, the Referees Committee (Part I) and the Football Committee
21 October Zurich
Meetings of the Referees Committee (Part II), the Players’ Status Committee and the Associations Committee
22 October Zurich
Meetings of the Organising Committee for the FIFA Club World Cup, the Media Committee and the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup
23 October Zurich
Meetings of the Goal Bureau and the Finance Committee
24 October Zurich
Executive Committee meeting
30 October -16 November
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008
20 November – 7 December
FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008
25 November Johannesburg
Meeting of the Board of the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
12-21 December
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008
18 December Tokyo
Finance Committee meeting
19 December Tokyo
Executive Committee meeting

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other representatives of the Olympic movement, including FIFA, held a productive meeting with a number of EU Sports Ministers and their representatives at its headquarters in Lausanne on 29 January. Aimed at fostering stronger dialogue between the governments and the Olympic Movement, this first gathering was a concrete step towards closer collaboration now that sport is mentioned in the EU Reform Treaty agreed upon by heads of states in Lisbon in October last year.
Discussions focused on the relevance of sport within the EU Reform Treaty and future implementation of this provision. The representatives of the Olympic Movement expressed their satisfaction at this important milestone and their determination to move things forward.

At a meeting in Zurich on 6 February under the chairmanship of Ricardo Terra Teixeira (Brazil), the FIFA Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee expressed their satisfaction at the growing importance of both of these variations on football as well as their confidence in the preparations for the upcoming FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Marseilles 2008 and the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008.
During the meeting, the dates for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008 were approved by the committee, with the competition set to run from 30 September to 19 October 2008 in the host cities of Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, subject to approval from the FIFA Executive Committee. For the first time, there will be 20 teams participating in the event, with the following distribution of teams by confederation: AFC (4), CAF (2), CONCACAF (3), CONMEBOL (3+host), OFC (1) and UEFA (6). The final draw will be held in Brasilia on 6 July.
The committee was also informed of the bidding procedure for the next competition in 2012. In total, six bids have been received, from the following member associations: Czech Republic, Egypt, Iran, New Caledonia, Portugal and Thailand.
The dates for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008, which will be held in Marseilles from 17 to 27 July, were also confirmed by the committee, having already been approved by the FIFA Executive Committee. The final draw will be held in Benidorm on 18 May, following the conclusion of the European qualifier event in the Spanish resort.