© EuroFootball.com
Lithuanian football has attracted international attention. Unfortunately, not due to victories, but due to embezzlement. European and global football organizations - UEFA and FIFA - are trying to figure out where the money allocated to them in Lithuania is disappearing.
International attention to the influence of Kaunas bandits
"People came to the opening of the new stadium and had to deal with tasks other than those they came for," former vice president of the football federation Gintautas Babravicius told LNK "Alfa savaitei".
UEFA and FIFA representatives had to explain why the court suspended for six months the president of the Lithuanian football federation, Julius Kvedaras, who was associated with the Kaunas bandits, and whether he could really appropriate the money allocated to Lithuania by international football organizations. J. Kvedaras blames everything on opponents who allegedly targeted the stadiums in Kaunas and Vilnius belonging to the federation.
"In Vilnius, I was told not to interfere because there is some interest group in this stadium, so I said that if you do it for football, then that's fine, but when I heard that it was not for football, I informed those people that there will be a football stadium here. Then they said, 'Wait for the consequences.' So, I waited," said J. Kvedaras, the president of the Lithuanian football federation removed from his duties by the decision of the Kaunas district court.
Zuokas reaches out to football?
Seizing the opportunity, the opponents of the current federation leadership gathered.
"When such institutions intervene - UEFA and FIFA - it means that the situation is really extraordinary, and I see only one case - the entire federation leadership plus members of the executive committee who have been sitting for 20 years, they must resign," football coach Valdas Ivanauskas told LNK "Alfa savaitei".
Rietenos paralyzed the federation's activities, so a savior from the environment of Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas appeared.
"I certainly did not jump out like Pilypas from the hemp," said MP Žilvinas Šilgalis.
One of the politicians who usually becomes very active before the elections would have nothing against taking the president's seat at the football federation. Obviously, temporarily.
"Someone needs to calm passions, and it really is needed, and then the football community could choose a further development path with a clear head. This would be healthy for everyone. And I said: if such help is needed - I can temporarily help. That's all and nothing more," said parliamentarian Ž. Šilgalis to LNK "Alfa savaitei".
Football in the hands of the mafia?
While Lithuanians fight for positions, European and world football organizations are figuring out what really happened to their money. Representatives of FIFA and UEFA met with representatives of the Government and the Ministry of the Interior, as well as with the football federation leadership, and will involve prosecutors.
"As they say, they got a sense of the situation. From the conversation, I understood that the investigation is going to be serious, because they asked for help - mediation, and they intend to go directly to the prosecutor's office. They need evidence that no one knows except the investigators, because it is a pre-trial investigation," former football federation vice president G. Babravičius told LNK "Alfa savaitei".
Football federation president J. Kvedaras was suspended for six months from his duties by a decision of the Kaunas district court after the Kaunas regional prosecutor's office, conducting a pre-trial investigation into the illegal enrichment of a football functionary associated with the Kaunas underworld, asked Judge for Pre-Trial Investigation. The pre-trial investigation was launched at the end of last year by the Financial Crimes Investigation Service after receiving a report from the State Tax Inspectorate.
"I laugh. I have provided everything to the Tax Inspectorate and have not received a response. If they say that something does not match, then I could comment, but I do not comment on newspapers," reiterated the suspect J. Kvedaras.
It is not new that the money allocated for football in Lithuania goes astray. A decade ago, there was a scandal in the football federation when its then leader Vytautas Dirmeikis invested the federation's money in a mayonnaise production business. Almost all the figures who led football during the entire period of independence were also associated with organized crime.
