UEFA President visits the Czech Republic
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
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On a visit to Prague, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has praised the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR) for its excellent work in developing the country's football.
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UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has visited the Czech Republic.
During his two-day visit, Mr Čeferin held talks with senior officials from the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR), and attended the association’s gala evening at Prague Castle, where he joined Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka for the presentation of the country’s Footballer of the Year award to Arsenal FC goalkeeper Petr Čech.
The UEFA President praised the FAČR for the particular quality of its development work. “The association has done a lot of good things with regard to infrastructure and the grassroots,” he said.
Mr Čeferin added that the FAČR had made excellent use of the financial support provided by UEFA through, among others, its HatTrick assistance programme.
“We have a perfect relationship,” he added. “Great work is being done in football in the Czech Republic.”
“The presence of Mr Čeferin was a highlight of our Footballer of the Year event,” said FAČR president Miroslav Pelta. “I really appreciate his visit. UEFA supports our association in many ways. It is our mother organisation, so we are happy to have their representatives in Prague.”
“Mr Čeferin comes from Slovenia,” Mr Pelta added, “a country that is a similar size to the Czech Republic, so we have common interests and objectives in fields such as marketing and other football policies.”
Mr Čeferin met Mr Sobotka at Prague Castle ahead of the awards ceremony. He welcomed the supportive attitude of the prime minister and his government towards the development of Czech football.
The visit of the UEFA President was also appreciated by Petr Čech, who received the Czech Footballer of the Year award for a record ninth time.
“The presence of Mr Čeferin was a great honour for Czech football,” said Čech, the most capped player in the history of the Czech national team with 124 appearances, and a winner of a host of honours, including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titles with Chelsea FC in 2012 and 2013.
“It helped to create the superb atmosphere for the evening,” he added.
Main photo: Petr Čech receives his Czech Footballer of the Year award - Aleksander Čeferin applauds, flanked by the general manager of sponsors T-Mobile, Milan Vašina (left), and Czech Republic prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka (right)