UEFA Congress

The UEFA Congress (French: Congrès de l'UEFA, German: UEFA-Kongress) is the supreme controlling organ of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). UEFA is the administrative body for association football and futsal in Europe, and is one of six continental confederations of world football's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). UEFA consists of 55 member associations.^[1]

Arched version of the UEFA logo

The congresses may be ordinary or extraordinary. Ordinary congresses meet annually, typically between February and May. An extraordinary congress may be convened by the UEFA Executive Committee, or at the written request of one fifth or more of the UEFA member associations, to deal with financial matters and/or matters of particular significance. Each of the 55 members of UEFA has one vote in the congress. The members of UEFA are responsible for electing the UEFA president and the members of the UEFA Executive Committee.^[2]

The most recent edition, the 49th Ordinary UEFA Congress, was held on 3 April 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia. The next congress is scheduled to be held on 2 February 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

History

UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland,^[3] and began with 31 members.^[4] The first congress was held the following year, on 2 March 1955 in Vienna, Austria. Until 1968, the meetings were known as general assemblies.^[4] The first extraordinary congress was held on 11 December 1959 in Paris, France. The most recent extraordinary congress was held on 20 September 2017 in Zurich, the 13th to take place. The ordinary congress was initially held annually up until 1958, when the delegates decided to amend the UEFA Statutes so the congress would follow a biennial schedule. Starting in 2003, the congress returned to an annual meeting, which was decided at the congress in 2002, mainly to facilitate the financial management of UEFA.^[4] On three occasions, two congress—an ordinary and extraordinary—have been held in the same year (in 1968, 2007 and 2017), while 2016 was the only year to see three congresses take place, due to two extraordinary meetings being held. The congress is typically held on a single day, though four congresses were held over two consecutive days: in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2009.

All congresses have been held within a UEFA member association, except for the 4th Extraordinary UEFA Congress, which took place in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Italy has hosted both the most overall and ordinary congresses with seven, all taking placing in Rome, of which five were ordinary and two extraordinary. Switzerland has hosted the most extraordinary congresses with five, though Rome is tied with Geneva and Zurich for the most extraordinary congresses by city with two. Four cities have held both an ordinary and extraordinary congress: Helsinki, London, Paris and Rome. As of 2025, the 49 ordinary congresses have been held in 32 cities, while the 13 extraordinary congresses have been held in 10 cities, for a total of 62 congresses in 37 cities.^[5]

Responsibilities

The following matters are within the power of the UEFA Congress:^[1]

• receipt and consideration of the annual report, financial report and the auditors' report
• approval of the annual accounts and budget
• election of the UEFA president
• election of UEFA Executive Committee members
• ratification of the Executive Committee members elected by the European Club Association and European Leagues
• election of the European members of the FIFA Council
• election of the auditing body
• amendments to the UEFA Statutes
• addition or removal of a member association
• decisions on the lifting or continuation of the suspension of a member association, UEFA Executive Committee member or a member of another body
• bestowal of honorary presidency or membership

List of congresses

  This colour background and the * symbol indicate that the congress elected the UEFA president.

Ordinary

Number	Date(s)	City
1 (I) *	2 March 1955	Vienna
2 (II)	8 June 1956	Lisbon
3 (III)	28 June 1957	Copenhagen
4 (IV) *	4 June 1958	Stockholm
5 (V)	21 August 1960	Rome
6 (VI) *	17 April 1962	Sofia
7 (VII)	17 June 1964	Madrid
8 (VIII) *	6 July 1966	London
9 (IX)	7 June 1968	Rome
10 (X) *	8 May 1970	Dubrovnik
11 (XI)	7 June 1972	Vienna
12 (XII) *	22 May 1974	Edinburgh
13 (XIII)	15 June 1976	Stockholm
14 (XIV) *	22 April 1978	Istanbul
15 (XV)	21 June 1980	Rome
16 (XVI) *	28 April 1982	Dresden
17 (XVII) *	26 June 1984	Paris
18 (XVIII) *	24 April 1986	Cascais
19 (XIX)	24 June 1988	Munich
20 (XX) *	19 April 1990	St. Julian's[6]
21 (XXI)	25 June 1992	Gothenburg
22 (XXII) *	28 April 1994	Vienna
23 (XXIII)	29 June 1996	London
24 (XXIV) *	30 April 1998	Dublin
25 (XXV)	30 June – 1 July 2000	Luxembourg City[7]
26 (XXVI) *	25 April 2002	Stockholm
27 (XXVII)	27 March 2003	Rome
28 (XXVIII)	22–23 April 2004	Limassol
29 (XXIX)	21 April 2005	Tallinn
30 (XXX)	23 March 2006	Budapest
31 (XXXI) *	25–26 January 2007	Düsseldorf
32 (XXXII)	31 January 2008	Zagreb
33 (XXXIII)	25–26 March 2009	Copenhagen
34 (XXXIV)	25 March 2010	Tel Aviv
35 (XXXV) *	22 March 2011	Paris
36 (XXXVI)	22 March 2012	Istanbul
37 (XXXVII)	24 May 2013	London
38 (XXXVIII)	27 March 2014	Astana[8]
39 (XXXIX) *	24 March 2015	Vienna[9]
40 (XL)	3 May 2016	Budapest[10]
41 (XLI)	5 April 2017	Helsinki[11]
42 (XLII)	26 February 2018	Bratislava[12]
43 (XLIII) *	7 February 2019	Rome[13]
44 (XLIV)	3 March 2020	Amsterdam[14]
45 (XLV)	20 April 2021[note 1]	Montreux[17]
46 (XLVI)	11 May 2022	Vienna[18]
47 (XLVII) *	5 April 2023	Lisbon[19]
48 (XLVIII)	8 February 2024	Paris[20][note 2]
49 (XLIX)	3 April 2025	Belgrade[22]
50 (L)	12 February 2026	Brussels[23]

Extraordinary

Number	Date	City
1 (I)	11 December 1959	Paris
2 (II)	27 September 1961	London
3 (III)	7 June 1968	Rome
4 (IV)	16 June 1971	Monte Carlo[24]
5 (V) *	15 March 1973	Rome
6 (VI)	19 September 1991	Montreux
7 (VII)	17 June 1993	Geneva
8 (VIII)	24 September 1997	Helsinki
9 (IX)	11 October 2001	Prague
10 (X)	28 May 2007	Zurich
11 (XI)	25 February 2016	Zurich[25]
12 (XII) *	14 September 2016	Athens[26]
13 (XIII)	20 September 2017	Geneva[27]

See also

• List of presidents of UEFA
• FIFA Congress

Notes

1. The 45th Ordinary UEFA Congress, originally scheduled for 2 March 2021 in Minsk, Belarus,^[15] was later moved to Switzerland due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe,^[16] and delayed until 20 April 2021.^[17]
2. The 48th Ordinary UEFA Congress, originally to be held in Madrid, Spain,^[21] was later relocated to Paris.