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Today, the president of the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) Liutauras Varanavičius assured Eurofootball.com that the Baltic Football League will start next season no matter what.
Although, as mentioned, the main sponsor of the new league, Russian businessman Aleksey Fedorychev, does not communicate his intentions and even reportedly has problems with the law enforcement, L. Varanavičius said about the issues discussed at the BFL board meeting in Riga yesterday: "We decided to start without waiting for A.Fedorychev's answer. The Baltic Football League will definitely happen. We will also offer clubs free travel, accommodation during their trips, and cover officiating expenses."
Asked about sponsors, the president of the LFF said: "Last summer, we had no shortage of offers from other sponsors. In the near future, negotiations will take place with them, and we will also look for other sponsors. On the other hand, we do not rule out the possibility that if A.Fedorychev decides to return, we will not object."
According to the head of Lithuanian football, the issue of funding for the BFL should be resolved by February or March next year.
L.Varanavičius confirmed that the competition format will remain the same as decided at the beginning of this season: "The teams fought all season to qualify for the top four in their country's championship, which guarantees the right to play in the Baltic League. Therefore, now it would be unfair to adjust or change the competition format from the clubs' perspective."
According to the preliminary project, the Baltic Football League will consist of 12 teams (4 from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. After the group stage, the top 2 teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
