Georgia will host the final stage of European Championship 2017 of U-19. The matches will be held in Tbilisi, Gori, Mtskheta and Rustavi. The meetings in Tbilisi will take place at “Mikheil Meskhi” stadium, in Gori – “Tengiz Burjanadze”, in Mtskhera – “Mtskheta Park” and in Rustavi – “Foladi”. The format of European Championship’s final stage will not change and 7 teams will visit Georgia. The host, as the organizer of the tournament, will automatically be admitted to the final stage.
The executive committee of UEFA decided to held the European Championship in Georgia on Monday evening and on Tuesday morning president of GFF Domenti Sichinava and General Secretary Rezo Arveladze hold a press conference about this event at “Mikheil Meskhi”.
Domenti Sichinava: “I congratulate the Georgian football such an important activity in 2017. We are pleased that the Executive Committee of UEFA trusted our country and Football Federation. After two-year work, we “took” the final stage in Georgia”.
-How much it will cost to host the European Championship and in what criteria were host cities chosen?
-The matches will be held in Tbilisi, Gori, Rustavi and Mtskheta. The matches will not take place on artificial fields and therefore, natural cover should be paved in Rustavi and Mtskheta. Besides, it is necessary to regulate press boxes, VIP boxes, etc. The stadiums must satisfy 2nd or 3rd category. Besides four stadiums, an extra one stadium is necessary. Also, we must have 8 training fields.
Maximum one hour way should be between hotel and the stadium and the training fields – half an hour. We need two 132-room hotels, where the teams will accommodate and one 30-room for referees. The preparations for the Championship will start 20 months earlier. The first delegation of UEFA will arrive in Georgia in 2015.
I cannot say how much it will cost to hold the Championship. The format will not change and 8 teams will play in the final stage. Besides the main stadium of “Mikheil Meskhi”, the reserve stadium will be prepared as well.
-Why the matches do not take place on “Dinamo Arena”?
-First of all, “Dinamo Arena” accommodates 53000 spectators and besides, the stadium will host the match of European Super Cup 2015.
-Who was the main competitor in order to get the right to held the European Championship?
-The whole Europe was the competitor. England was the main rival.
-Assistance from the government is important. Did you have consultations with the officials?
-We had the meeting with the government a year ago. Then, we have raised the issue that we wanted to host the European Championship. There also exists the decree of Prime Minister, which indicates that the government supports hosting the European Championship 2017.
-Will the organizing committee be created separately for the Euro-2017?
-We are going to UEFA on February 4. We will start working and the commission will be established, which will start working 20 months earlier. UEFA requires maximal safety of the teams during the trainings. As for the timing of the event, it is expected to be held in July.
-Why UEFA decided to give Georgia the chance to hold the Championship here?
Rezo Arveladze: “When you make the documents to send to UEFA, you write what you will do. Hosting so many tournaments between aged teams was the part of this plan, where our possibilities became clear. We worked on this for 2 years. Besides, no one wants to see a weak team in the final stage of the European Championship.
-How much is a salary of head coach of the Georgian national team Kakha Tskhadadze? Is it true that in the next two matches against Malta and Germany Football Federation will not pay him and he will get salary from “Inter” Baku until June?
Sichinava: “I really do not know how much is Tskhadadze’s salary in “Inter”. We agreed with the president of “Inter”, that while Tskhadadze works for the club he will get salary only from “Inter” and from June GFF will pay him”.
