
The Union of European Football Associations has been around since 1954. It is comprised of 53 European associations and is headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland. Almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA, it organizes several national and club-level competitions across Europe. The largest of six continental confederations of the French Swiss organization FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), UEFA is also the wealthiest and most influential over the game of football. Since 1960, UEFA has held one of their Pan European competitions, the UEFA European Football Championship, every four years in member countries. In 2000, for the first time, the tournament was held by two neighboring countries, Netherlands and Belgium. The trend stayed and the last competition in 2008 was in Austria and Switzerland. In 2012, the games will be held by neighbors Poland and Ukraine. A first for Central and Eastern Europe.
