The ballroom at the Hualing hotel hosted the 26th annual GFF Congress. At the same time, Hualing Tbilisi became an official partner of Georgian football’s governing body. A cooperation agreement was signed prior to the start of the Congress between Hotels & Preference Hualing Tbilisi and the Georgian Football Federation.
Before addressing the issues on the agenda, Levan Kobiashvili remembered legendary Georgian players Slava Metreveli and Davit Kipiani, who this year would have turned 80 and 65 years old, respectively. The Congress also held a minute’s silence to honour members of the footballing community who had passed away since the previous year’s Congress.
During his own speech, the GFF president spoke about the achievements and projects that have been implemented since the arrival of the new leadership team at the helm of the federation. Mr. Kobiashvili thanked the representatives of the commercial sector, including the Georgian national team’s general sponsor VTB and Coca-Cola, who are actively cooperating with the federation for the purpose of promoting and popularizing youth football, as well as new partners Hotels & Preference Hualing Tbilisi. According to Mr. Kobiashvili, the private sector’s growing involvement is positive and significant for Georgian football.
During his speech, the GFF president also spoke about the significance of developing grassroots football in the country. He gave a brief overview of the projects which have already been implemented for this purpose, including the Amateur League, the 2016 Coca-Cola Cup, as well as the Regional Cup, which led to the establishment of under-13 selections in each region of Georgia. The latter project aims to unearth young talent all across the country. Mr. Kobiashvili also addressed the issue of women’s football, pointing out that the launch of the first regular domestic women’s football league in April 2016 has been the most significant step forward in this regard.
Next, the president mentioned the futsal championship, which was successfully organised together with the highly experienced SBM agency. He also announced that high-profile domestic football games would be regularly staged at various provincial venues all over Georgia in the future. This year, the final of the Davit Kipiani Georgian Cup took place in Kutaisi for the first time.
Another key part of the president’s speech was the new format of the domestic league championship, which will be a significant event and a novelty in Georgian club football. Levan Kobiashvili wished everyone who will contest the domestic title from August this year, as well as those competing at other levels in the pyramid, the best of luck.
Mr. Kobiashvili further spoke about the establishment of the Sporting Integrity Protection Service at the GFF, which actively monitors all the official games that take place across the country. In the final part of his speech, he then addressed the key issue of football education projects, highlighting the fact that for the first time in Georgia, UEFA’s Pro License course was completed by coaches, and wishing them well for the future. The GFF president also mentioned another UEFA project – the football management certificate – which will begin in the near future. Attendees will have a chance of completing the international course in the Georgian language.
Following the president’s speech, the GFF general secretary David Mujiri presented the auditing results to the public. The report was prepared by the independent auditing company Financial Management Group, which has been working with the GFF since 2010. It reflected the budget deficit which was inherited by the new leadership team of football’s governing body.
“The budget deficit has been created by bank loans, debts towards various organizations, inappropriate advance spending of UEFA and FIFA funds, as well as interest-free loans and other funds given out to private individuals and later written off. At this stage, we are holding talks with international footballing governing bodies with regards to restructuring our debts and avoiding sanctions.
In addition to the debts, there are problems regarding specific projects, the financial side of which had not been properly planned prior to our arrival. These problems are particularly acute in case of UEFA-backed projects. We are aware of our responsibility to complete them, and are therefore forced to source additional funding,” stated Mr. Mujiri.
Next on the agenda was a vote regarding the membership status of five GFF subjects. As a result of the open vote, the Football Schools Association, the Georgian Amputee League, the Georgian Street Football Association, the Georgian Beach Soccer Association, as well as FC Metalurgi Rustavi, all lost their GFF member status. Additionally, the delegates voted to amend Article 71 of GFF’s legislation, whereby club licensing regulations now applies to all levels of professional football in Georgia, instead of only the Top Division.
The Congress then approved the 2015 financial report and the 2016 budget. Finally, the delegates also voted to approve the independent auditing procedure.
Notably, seven individuals received awards at this year’s Congress for their contributions to the development of Georgian football. These are Tariel Khechikashvili, Roman Pipia, Besik Chikhradze, Guram Rukhadze, Ilia, Kokaia, Pridon Injia and Lekso Topuria.
GFF Press Service