00:00Dear friends of football, it is a great pleasure to greet you at the opening of another Portugal
00:06Football Summit and I regret not being with you in person this year.
00:11Last time I was here I left with far more than I brought.
00:16That tells you what kind of event this is.
00:20The speakers you will hear offer insights and experience none of us could gather on
00:26our own.
00:26Every reform explained here, every mistake admitted.
00:31Every project that worked will help the next generation to do better and make our game
00:36stronger.
00:37I congratulate the Portuguese Football Federation for understanding this and for building such
00:43a valuable platform for football professionals.
00:47My friends, the beauty and traditions of this game make us all its servants.
00:52It belongs to the people who play it, who watch it and who dedicate their lives to it.
00:59Bringing our different perspectives together is the only way to meet football's challenges
01:04and grow.
01:06Yet not everyone places the game above their own ambitions.
01:11Trust in our sport rests on three pillars.
01:15Unity, transparency and governance that serves the many, not the few.
01:20In recent times all three were disregarded by people who had sworn to protect them.
01:25The project that shattered the unity of world football may be abolished, but the trust it broke
01:31has not returned and repairing it is our work now.
01:36Football is not for sale.
01:38That is the message UEFA has carried for years and I am certain this summit will carry it further.
01:43The game will remain safe if those who govern it remember whom they govern it for.
01:51Dear President Proença, dear Pedro, thank you for your support and sincere congratulations
01:57on Portugal's remarkable contribution to world football.
02:02Your clubs and national teams keep shining on the brightest stages and the players your system
02:08produces bring excitement to pitches all over the world.
02:12The global game has a lot to learn from your country.
02:17So dear friends, enjoy these days together, listen carefully, spend time with your peers and remember
02:25that everything discussed here serves our game.
02:28I wish you a successful summit and I hope to see you soon.
