At the recent draw for miniEURO2014, European Minifootball Federation president Razvan Burleanu (middle on above photo), made a keynote speech.
Here it is, in full, below.
Football in Montenegro
- As the President of the Romanian Football Federation, it is my duty to look at the way in which football manifests in other countries as well. I am not just saying this out of courtesy, because I am here as your guest, but because I have actually observed that the development of Montenegrin football is a remarkable example and it is a model I particularly appreciate.
- It’s been only seven and a half years since the first international match for Montenegro’s national team, and the evolution since then makes me believe we are witnessing what is, perhaps, the most enthusiastic sport path among UEFA’s newest members.
- During the three qualification campaign in which it was involved, the Montenegro representative team had managed to overcome adversaries, such as Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Poland or Ukraine. Moreover, since the 199th place that it occupied in 2007, in the FIFA hierarchy, Montenegro is presently on the 43rd place.
- We are not referring here to a fortuitous growth, but to a well-structured progress, built on the basis of a much older football tradition, and which finds support in the way the current Montenegrin football management knew how to smartly manage the financial resources, and the talent, both pertaining to the country.
- With less than 600.000 (six hundred thousand) inhabitants, Montenegro manages to offer to the European and world football top class players, such as Savici, Jovetici, or Vucinici, a full series of footballers playing in the most prestigious championships of the continent.
- Last month, I had the opportunity to have a glimpse at the future of Montenegrin football, on the occasion of the U21 football match in Bucharest, Romania-Montenegro. It was a difficult victory for us, 4-3, but I noticed players, such as Mugosa and Djordjevici, that I am sure will very soon be among your football stars.
Football in Romania
- The objective of my mandate is to bring Romanian football to its true potential. Romania has shown for years that it is a country with a very high potential of being part of the European and world football elites.
- The solutions I suggested to the football environment in Romania were: orienting the football administration towards performant business models, specializing staff in accordance with the latest professional criteria, zero tolerance for the corruption in Romania. I do not think that these are solutions that match only Romanian football; I see them more as standards with a European applicability.
- Developing football is no longer related only to asserting football talent; it refers also to thinking the entire administrative circuit which deals with identifying, training and promoting sports talents.
Sport diplomacy
- In Romania, we suggested that the state orients more of its attention and actions towards the sports diplomacy area, because, through sports, a country’s image can be much easier promoted.
- But I feel that, beyond the national interest of each state, there is also a general interest that transcends national ambitions. Sport is a phenomenon through which universal values such as equality of opportunities, respect for diversity, fairness in competitions, team work and mutual understanding can be promoted.
For this reason, we could refer to not only sports diplomacy, but also to the diplomacy of sport. I am referring, as I was telling you, to promoting universal values and interests pertaining to sport.
In this regard, I feel that mini-football is a sport that can substantially contribute to building the message that we wish to send to Europe and to the world, generally. Through this diplomacy of sport, using the passion that we share for sport, we are able to address governments, institutions, and communities that we wish to stimulate to work in the interest of the values I was referring to: equality of opportunities, respect for diversity, fairness in competitions, team work and mutual understanding.
Connection between professional football and mini-football
- I see mini-football as being complementary to professional football. The football areas supported by UEFA are addressed to professionals, whose job is to be a football player.
- Mini-football, instead, I envisage it as a sports area addressing mainly football fans, amateurs, people in the tribune, if you would like. Why? Because it offers the possibility to any individual to play football in accordance with the physical and sports abilities that any person has, whose job is not to be a football player.
- I think that mini-football can consistently help professional football. Practicing this sport may lead children and youngsters to big football. Also, mini-football can help the fans understand what competition means, as well as the respect they have to show to their adversaries. In the same way they do not hate each other on the mini-football pitch, they will understand they must not hate each other as supporters of different teams, because we are talking about competition, not about war.