© EuroFootball.com
The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) today held a press conference to discuss the main problems affecting the country's football.
After the expressed dissatisfaction of the Spanish national team and their refusal to train at the "Žalgiris" sports base, public discussions have been ongoing for some time, leading LFF to shed some light on the situation.
One of the most pressing issues is the lack of a good stadium - the Vilnius "Žalgiris" stadium is outdated and in need of reconstruction, the "Vėtra" stadium is too small, and the Kaunas Darius and Girėnas stadium does not meet safety requirements.
Therefore, FIFA could ban playing in Lithuania, and the national team would likely have to play in Riga, where there is an international standard stadium.
Many blames for this situation have fallen on the LFF, but its president Liutauras Varanavičius insists that "building stadiums is the duty of cities and the government," while the federation's work is to solve other issues.
According to LFF, the government has been approached numerous times with requests and proposals for help, but government officials remain indifferent to the sport, which is not considered the most popular in Lithuania, despite being the opposite in the rest of the world. Private investors are also not very interested in football, so funds for a new stadium or other football development programs are hard to come by.
Various obstacles are also delaying the completion of projects for the reconstruction of the "Žalgiris" stadium and the construction of a complex in New Vilnius. The need to re-negotiate the projects significantly delays the start of construction, and in the opinion of LFF leaders, this could take at least another year.
