© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday, the licensing season of the A and I leagues clubs of the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) ended. After appeals, the number of A league license holders increased to 12, while 9 clubs in the I league met the requirements on time.
The number of participants in both leagues will be revealed on Monday after the meeting of the LFF Executive Committee.
After the appeals - 7 more clubs.
To obtain A league licenses, clubs had to submit documentation supporting legal, youth education, personnel, infrastructure, and financial criteria. The initial assessments were made on January 30, and clubs had the opportunity to make corrections in the last week.
After the appeals, A league licenses were granted to Vilnius MFD "Žalgiris", Panevezys "Ekranas", Gargzdai "Bangai", "Šiauliai", Alytus "Dainava", Tauragės "Tauras", and Kaunas "Spyris".
Last week, licenses were granted to Klaipėda "Atlantas", Marijampolė "Sūduva", Pakruojis "Kruoja", "Klaipėda Granitas", and "Trakai".
9 licenses in the I league.
After evaluating the documentation submitted by the applicants of the I league, licenses were granted to Kaunas "Stumbras", Vilnius MRU, Radviliškis "Lokomotyvas", and Vilnius "Žalgiris-3".
In the first stage of decision-making process, licenses were granted to five clubs - Kėdainiai "Nevėžis", Kazlų Rūda "Šilas", Jonava "Lietava", Šilutė "Šilutė", and Utena "Utenis".
Licenses were not granted to Panevėžys "Baltija" (unmet legal, youth education, personnel, and financial criteria) and Palanga "Palanga" (legal, youth education, personnel, infrastructure).
Two more applicants - Telšiai "Mastis" and Vilnius "Polonija" - did not submit the necessary documentation for appeals.
Sanctions for financial irregularities.
The LFF License Department (LS) noted that although many clubs submitting appeals were late in providing audited financial reports, the work done in the last days allowed to see the real situation of the clubs.
"The reports showed that since the end of the previous season, clubs applying for A league licenses have only slightly paid off more than 924 thousand litas in overdue obligations to employees, players, referees, federation, and other clubs," said Jelena Kutkienė, financial criteria expert of LFF LS. "This shows the annual benefit of the licensing system in ensuring the financial stability of the league."
For those who have proven to have no overdue obligations at present, the bans on registering new footballers were lifted for "Žalgiris" and "Šiauliai". The ban remains for 5 clubs - "Klaipėda Granitas", "Ekranas", "Dainava", "Bangai", and "Tauras", until the remaining obligations are covered.
"In this context, it is important to emphasize that according to the current licensing rules, A league licenses can be issued to clubs that have remaining overdue obligations," explained Laurynas Zibolis, head of LFF LS. "However, such clubs must be given a different sanction than not issuing a license. For several seasons now, the sanction has been a ban on registering new players, which, as we see from recent practice, is also quite effective."
Meanwhile, higher requirements are applied for UEFA licenses - clubs must prove by March 31 that the debts will be covered by the end of the year.
Clubs that have acquired A league licenses will be able to apply for UEFA licenses. They will submit additional documents later, in a specific order, by April 5.
The number of participants in the 2014 A and I leagues will be confirmed by the LFF Executive Committee on February 10.
The "SMSCredit.lt A league" championship of this season will start on March 8-9. The start of the I league championship is planned for the beginning of April.
