© EuroFootball.com
Today, on Thursday, a meeting of representatives of the governing bodies of the three Baltic football federations took place in Latvia, where it was decided to create the Baltic Football League, as reported by the Lithuanian Football Federation.
It is reported that the football federations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will do everything to ensure that the level of football, especially among the leading clubs in the countries, is as high as possible.
"In our opinion, the Baltic Football League, where the leading clubs of the countries would participate, is very important and beneficial. The creation of the Baltic countries' football league will provide the opportunity to avoid major changes in the structure of national championships, improve the level of matches, increase their popularity among both spectators and sponsors," - stated in an official document signed by Aivaras Pohlakas, Vice President of the Estonian Football Federation, Janis Mežeckis, General Director of the Latvian FF, and Liutauras Varanavičias, President of the LFF.
A working group formed by these individuals agreed to prepare the statutes of the Baltic Football League, which will be submitted to FIFA and UEFA. A conference will be organized soon, where the presidents or official representatives of the highest league football clubs will participate.
The federations also agreed that the current Latvian champion, Liepāja "Metalurgs," will organize the Baltic Champions Club Cup in August 2006. The event will be related to the celebration of Latvia's football centenary. The representatives of the federations agreed that the current national champions must participate in this event.
"During the meeting, we discussed the format of the Baltic Football League - each country will be represented by 4 teams, which will be divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. After finalizing the schedule, we will present it to the football clubs of the countries for consideration. If the clubs find it suitable, then the Baltic Football League will start in March 2007, with the planned end in August," - said L.Varanavičius after the meeting in Riga.
"Next week, a meeting of marketing representatives is planned to discuss the financing of the participants in the Baltic Football League, following the example of the UEFA Champions League, where participating teams would receive adequate funding," - said the President of the LFF.
