June start for Intertoto Cup

The draw for the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup was made on Monday in Nyon, Switzerland. The competition will kick off on June 21/22 with the first 42 clubs facing each other in knockout matches home and away.

The pairings for this round and the subsequent two stages have been decided on the basis of nationality as the participants will not be named until the May 23 deadline.

The Maltese club in competition was drawn against a team from Finland in the opening round with Greek opponents waiting in the next stage (July 5/6) and an Italian side in the third round (July 19/20).

Allianssi and Tampere United are the Finland FA's representatives in the first round.

The second round will be contested by the 21 first-round winners and a further 11 seeded sides. The 16 winners will then face the final eight seeded entrants in the third round.

The UEFA Intertoto Cup is designed to produce three winners, each of whom will gain a place in the first round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. The draw for the semi-final and final matches will take place on July 14.

The three UEFA Cup qualifiers will be known on August 26 when the second legs of the three finals are played. Fulham, Stuttgart and Malaga, who reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to Boavista, advanced from this season's competition.