Brussels, 26/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - The final version of the Independent European Sport Review (IESR) was presented officially in Moscow on 20 October, during the meeting of sports ministers from the 49 signatory countries of the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe. It will be the subject of discussion by the relevant European ministers during the ministerial conference on “EU and Sport: matching expectations” organised in Brussels by the Finnish presidency of the European Commission. Drafted under the aegis of José Luis Arnaut, Portugal's former Sports Minister, the study is an initiative by his French, German, Italian, Spanish and British counterparts taken in the context of the British Presidency last year. The aim is to present concrete recommendations in order to resolve the structural and legal problems existing on the European football market, which has recently been tarnished by many scandals, and to see to what extent European and national authorities can implement the Nice Declaration (2000) recognising the specificity of sport. The study is in two parts. The first deals with the specific nature of sport in European law generally, and the other uses football as a case study. Themes tackled include club ownership, control and management; the transfer of players and prices negotiated; the distribution of profits; action taken to combat match-fixing and corruption; and the role of the European institutions, Member States and football authorities when it comes to investment. (il)