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The President of the Football Federation, Armand Duka, gave an interview for the show "Andale Sport" with journalists Flori Thomaj and Benard Lazri.
During the interview, he spoke about his career, experience in business and football, the development of the Federation, the organization of a European Championship for the first time in our country, objectives for the future, the "Abissnet Superiore" championship, as well as the Albanian National Team's match against Serbia on June 7.
Below, President Duka's interview for "Adale Sport":
- You come from a family that has been involved in sports, but also in business since an early age. Do you think that your experience in business has influenced the resurgence of Albanian football?
– In a way, everything is management. Management is a universal thing and this has helped me. This is also my profession, an industrial economist, I studied this. I wanted to say that management is the same everywhere. The experience you get from business management can help the football field, the same thing vice versa. There is a kind of synergy.
– The last tournament in Albania was the Euro U17. What did Albania gain from this competition?
- There was a lot of work in preparation, in building the infrastructure. Sport is also compared to art. Preparing for a match is not just 22 people on the field, but there is a lot of preparation, even more so when you have a European competition, even with 8 teams.
10 football fields have been reconstructed. Work has been done on the 4 stadiums where it is played, especially in Rrogozhina, which was almost built from scratch. Albanian football won promotion, young people who come to the stadium steps and our main goal is to bring them closer to the sport. There are also benefits to the image of the country. A little with U17, a little with U21, a little sea, a little mountain, a little of everything and we will grow.
– What do you think Albania's U17 team lacked to perform better?
- I am pleased with what the boys have given on the field. We were in a competition with the 7 best teams in Europe. A competition where Spain was left out. We have a good and promising team. They are boys who will grow and the day will come when we will see them in the first team of Albania.
I would be happier if we were European champions, but the fact that we are competing in a European competition is a good thing. They grow and gain experience. All of us, the Federation administration, extraordinary experience. I am not the one who should give grades for the organization of the competition. We had an official dinner with the delegations of the teams in Albania and the representative of the English federation told me that we also organized the European U-17 Championship in 2018 and that I have been to several Euro U17s, but I have never participated in a better one than this.
It's not that we enjoy it, but it shows us that we have gained the right experience, we have taken a step forward and we see ourselves going even further, because this is also a self-test for the U21 European Championship in 2027.
- One of the plans of the Albanian Football Association is to double the number of children playing football. How will this be achieved specifically?
– This is one of the main objectives that the Federation has, but also a difficult challenge, despite the progress we have made. There are 2 fundamental reasons. Unfortunately, there are fewer children in Albania and the second is the lack of infrastructure. We have improved the quality of the training facilities, but the physical inventory of football fields is lacking.
Street football is missing and the only way is to have organized football with an organized structure. It is actually missing where it should be more, in cities with high density like Tirana.
Because free spaces in Tirana are limited or have been used for construction. We are fighting to grow and have made projects to increase the inventory, offering financing and grants to any municipality or individual that wants to build a football field.
– Another important organization is the Euro U21, but also much talked about for its cooperation with Serbia. What stage are we currently in?
- We have prepared every plan. It was the competition phase to get the right to organize the championship. We have determined the staff and we are ready. It is more difficult than the U17 because it is the second most important European Championship in UEFA. The level of difficulty is high.
We have determined where it will be played, where the training will be held, and the accommodation places, and we have 2 years to prepare it. I am sure that we will do it in the most perfect way possible. The decision to host a championship with Serbia is not easy. This is a sports organization. The championships will be played in 2 different countries.
The message for me is positive. We must look forward. The whole world talks about peaceful relations and development, so we should not leave war to our children, but peace.
– Is the match with Serbia approaching, on June 7th?
– This match also has the sensitivity, but also the experience that Albania has in organizing matches against Serbia or more or less like against Greece. What we need to focus on is the sporting result because in this group, everyone who follows football projects England as the first place and this match gives us the opportunity to continue dreaming or fades it.
From a sporting point of view, I still think it's difficult and there's pressure on the boys who play. The demands are high and the stadium will be packed. I hope it's not a pressure that crushes our team, but rather a push to grow them towards a positive result. I hope our team uses it positively.
– Is there a fear of an incident in Tirana?
– We cooperate with the organizational institutions. And we call on all supporters to see it as a football match. To cooperate with us to have a positive organization, with the emotions of a football match. Incidents do not help anyone. Let's support the team and move forward.
– Recently, Igli Tare became the sporting director at Milan. How do you feel about this achievement?
– I know him closely and I remember him from the time when he was a footballer in the National Team. He is very willing and works hard. He has worked hard. I trust him and he has shown that he does that task well. This is not a personal pride, but pride for an Albanian who succeeds in the international arena. Our successes in the international arena are not many that we are not proud to have the sports director of Milan of Albanian origin. Especially since I am in a way a supporter of Milan.
– Do you think that the championship is also making strides forward like the National Team?
– The championship, to make more steps forward, to be attractive, with more quality and spectators, needs a better organization of clubs and financial support. It is not easy for clubs to generate finances to increase the level, so there is a need for support, which has always been lacking in Albanian legislation.
History has shown that club presidents, with the desire to make a better team, have also ruined their own business and this is not a good thing. Football clubs are financed 0% from the state budget, this has always been the case with the political forces in power.
We have proposed a legal package that supports football, taking an example from other countries. It is the same as the Hungarian law, which has given an extraordinary result. A law that provides for the right to financing from business, or to deduct tax from business. Kosovo does it too and has been successful. Not only this, but as I said, better organization of the clubs themselves is also needed. Incentives, financial support take it to another step.
There is a promise that will be made this year and I really hope that it will be made this year. It is not just a donation to sports or football. It is an investment, because football gives you money back. We are witnesses to the market that football creates, the economy that football creates. Because even today football has an impact on the country's economy.
– Will the "Final 4" formula continue or do you think another scheme should be found that is more attractive?
- With or without the "Final 4" the same discussion will take place. Every formula has its strengths and weaknesses. We have sought and thought about making the "Final 4" to produce one more competition, to promote football. It has been followed more than the 36-week championship. From the point of view of promotion, emotion, suspense it creates, it is positive.
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