© EuroFootball.com
Future football stars of Europe will compete in Lithuania in 2013 - our country has been granted the right to host the final stage of the UEFA European U-19 Youth Boys Championship for the first time. It was revealed during the meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Football Associations (UEFA) held on Monday in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
The Lithuanian Football Federation's (LFF) application to host the 2013 championship was selected by UEFA administration from eight candidates along with Germany, Hungary, and Slovenia, and recommended by the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee to the UEFA Executive Committee. They unanimously approved Lithuania's candidacy.
"A football championship of this level will take place in Lithuania for the first time. For a country like ours, this is an important achievement, a great responsibility, and a good test of administrative capabilities," said LFF President Liutauras Varanavičius after the confirmation, who participated in the UEFA EC meeting as a member.
According to the LFF leader, UEFA considered the work of LFF in organizing minor tournaments, as well as the progress of Lithuanian football in various areas, including infrastructure work.
UEFA pays the most attention to the condition of stadiums and training grounds, accommodation for teams and supporting staff, logistics. According to the requirements, all teams must stay in one or two four-star hotels. Each team must have separate meeting rooms, video review equipment, and rest areas.
Training grounds must be no more than a 15-20 minute drive from the hotel, and only two teams can train on each field. There must be changing rooms, showers, and equipment rooms.
Teams must not travel for more than an hour to the competition stadiums. Both training and matches will take place on natural turf.
Thus, the initial Lithuanian application for hosting the U-19 championship includes stadiums in those cities that currently best meet UEFA requirements - Kaunas, Marijampolė, and Alytus. It is planned that all teams will live in Kaunas.
"We hope that the authorities will pay attention to this and contribute to the improvement of infrastructure. The list of stadiums is only preliminary. If other cities step up, they also have opportunities. It would be nice if the matches could be held in the capital as well," said the head of LFF.
Eight teams will compete in the UEFA U-19 championship - the host Lithuania national team and seven teams that have passed the qualification.
"We will dedicate great attention to this championship, develop a three-year program and prepare a team that could properly represent the country. We have plans to create competition for the current national team base, which is being prepared at the National Football Academy in Kaunas," Varanavičius said.
