2024-07-18 08:18:25
The championship there is one
among the youngest in Europe
Georgia was one of the undisputed hits of the European with its 1/8-final. The former Soviet republic suddenly became a powerhouse. And it’s all because of UEFA money. Such as the BFS also receives, but in our country it does not appear at all that they are being used as intended.
On the road between Tbilisi and Batumi on the outskirts of Lanchkhuti, it is hard not to notice a perfect football complex. With a normal-sized field and a new dormitory building, which contrasts strongly with the buildings in the city.
This academy was opened in 2020, and currently there are five regions of Georgia. The money for construction and operation comes from UEFA.
The youth football development program started exactly 10 years ago. In four countries – Georgia, Belarus, Armenia and North Macedonia. They were given money, knowledge and associates. UEFA then assessed the progress and extended it to all 55 federations.
Apparently, the Georgians have found their way around the best.
At the UEFA centers, they look for players all over the country, help them with psychologists, even teach them hygiene. And some kids are already at a pretty good level.
The first academy appeared in Rustavi (Southeastern Georgia). Four pitches (2 with natural and 2 with artificial cover) and a dormitory for 60 children were built on 6 hectares.
Then came the complexes at Lagodehi (east), to Lanchkhuti (west), Ruhi (northwest) and Kutaisi (west). The latter was completed last year and cost $3.8 million. Four pitches with lighting (two with stands) and a dormitory appeared in the city.
Academies recruit 14-15 year olds. The selection is handled by scouts who go around the country looking for talent. 60 of them fall into a 20-day camp.
The aim of the camp is to
find the 22
with biggest
potential
They train absolutely free for one to three years. The boys enroll them in a general education school, feed them, clothe them and, if necessary, receive help from a psychologist.
Training ends at age 17, after which they sign professional contracts. There is a possibility that they will leave earlier, but there is practically no point in doing so. The trainings are conducted according to the standards of the UEFA technical committee, and apart from football, they include proper nutrition, hygiene, behavior and a sense of responsibility.
The European headquarters not only covers the costs, but also sends inspectors to Georgia five times a year – to check the work and report all new developments in training.
It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the program, because its first graduates were only 22 years old. And the first ones who trained on the new grounds were 20. No one has yet reached the men’s national team. But four are already youth nationals and play in the championship of Georgia: Mihail Makatsaria – for “Dinamo” (Tbilisi), Luka Haratishvili – for “Dinamo” (Batumi), Otar and Gizo Mamageishvili – for “Iberia 1999”.
In 2020, the curator of the program from UEFA, Jean-Francois Domergue (1984 European champion with the great team of France with Platini and others) announced that all national federations, which are 55 in number, are included in it. “The project has been an incredible success. According to our estimation, 60-75% of the players who are in the national academies get into the junior national teams U15, U16 and U17. Some were offered professional contracts,” he said.
In Georgia, the former international David Mujiri, brother of the former CSKA player and “Marek” Amiran Mujiri, is in charge of the program.
“The funds from UEFA are of great importance. The country lacked infrastructure, and now we have opened a center in Rustavi, where our main academy will be,” he said.
Along with the state ones, private academies also appeared in Georgia.
After the match with Portugal, the photo of Cristiano Ronaldo with the underage Hvica Kvaratzhelia and other players of the national team appeared on the Internet today. She has been in Tbilisi since 2013, when he arrived for the opening of the school named after the legend Vitaly Daraselia and owned by “Dinamo” (Tbilisi). It costs several million dollars, and the visa – about 300,000. “This is an absolute lie. It came free. We just chartered a private plane for him, his girlfriend and his son,” the club owner said.
And 11 years after the historical photo of the European, there were five graduates of this school: Kvaratskheliya, Kochorashvili, Davitashvili, Mekvabishvili and Chakvetadze.
At last year’s European Youth Championship, there were six graduates of the academy of “Dinamo” (Tbilisi) and four each from “Samgurali” and “Saburtalo” (renamed “Iberia 1999”). In reality, “Iberia 1999” started as a youth school, then grew into a club with a men’s team.
At the beginning of 2000, “Dinamo” (Batumi) did not have a school, but now it has one and a five-story dormitory.
“Samtrediya” is also starting its own complex, and the club’s ambition is to have about 90% of the academy’s graduates play in it within 10 years, explains the general director of the club, Mihail Khutsishvili.
And the statistics confirm this trend. The championship is in
top-5 of Europe
for lowest
middle-aged
– 24.4 years (Netherlands – 24.9, Germany – 26.5, and England – 26.6).
The average age of the players of “Dynamo” (Tbilisi) is 22, “Iberia 1999” – 22.4, “Dila” (Gori) – 22.8.
It sounds somehow surrealistic in its native reality.
At last year’s European Youth Championship as hosts, Georgia drew with Belgium and the Netherlands and entered the knockout stage, having never played at this level before. In the qualifiers for next year, the team goes to the places that guarantee a ranking.
In 2017, the European Under-19 was also there.
The stadiums “Dila” in Gori, “Shengelia” in Kutaisi and “Miail Meskhi” in Tbilisi were completely renovated for the tournaments.
The repairs cost about 40 million dollars, and the money – mainly from UEFA. For example, the reconstruction of “Meskhi” cost 10 million dollars, and the Eurocentral covered 80%. “We now have 26,000 seats with 32 entrances, which allows us to empty the stadium in 5 minutes,” boast the Georgians.
Perhaps some of you remember that there was also a European tournament for juniors in our country. Currently, no stadium where the game is played is suitable for a village match. “Neftokhimik” is in ruins, “Chernomorets” in even bigger ones. The Shark’s Nest base does not exist. A sad native picture. Even the BFS is suing the sports ministry for misspent funds.
UEFA is helping through the HatTrick programme. In the period 2020 – 2024, each Member State received 14.1 million euros, for a total of 775 million euros. The budget for the new cycle is 935 million euros, or 66% of the estimated profit of the European in Germany.
The most important condition is that the money goes to infrastructure (stadiums, training centers and pitches) and useful programs (fighting the black lottery, training coaches, developing young players and grassroots football).
For 20 years
via HatTrick
3.5 have passed
billion euros
For this money, 1,000 pitches, 34 training centers were built and stadiums were modernized. It provided 10 million euros for the new national stadium in Tirana and hosted the final of the Conference League.
In Bulgaria, we have one BFS base, which turned out to be small for all national teams. We don’t have a national stadium, we don’t have anything.
And in Georgia, people are returning to the stadiums. There were 25,000 spectators at the Junior European Championships in Tbilisi. Last year, 43,000 spectators came to the “Boris Paychadze” stadium for a youth match, a European record.
In the period from 2015 to 2021, the number of carded players in Georgia increased from 15,000 to 37,000.
Thus, the breakthrough of the European does not seem accidental. And in Bulgaria we are sinking into chaos.
The championship there is one
among the youngest in Europe