The ‘’HatTrick’’ committee of UEFA that is led by Vice President of UEFA, Karl-Erik Nilsson, gathered today for the first time in Albania. An historic event that was entrusted to the Albanian Football Association for the organization of this event and at the same time, a great supporter for AFA, as a credible partner, capable to receive high level international activities.
This committee is composed of well-known names of European football administration, meanwhile the President of AFA, Armand Duka is one of the vice-chairman of ‘’HatTrick’’.
A special guest in this meeting was the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Evis Kushi, that in her welcoming speech expressed her appreciation for this important committee of UEFA, that for the first time is gathered in Albania and praised the contribution for the Albanian football that the government of European football is giving in cooperation with AFA.
Minister Kushi underlined that sport is a great family where solidarity and support for each other are dominant, especially with the cooperation with Albanian Football Association and the Albanian government.
Furthermore, during the meeting, “HatTrick’’ projects were reviewed for approval and a sum-up was conducted for the implementation of investments.
Also different matters were discussed and for UEFA-s Academy. The members of the HatTrick committee arrived in Tirana on Wednesday, in the framework of the meeting agenda. Firstly, the UEFA delegation headed by the chairman of the HatTrick Committee, Karl-Erik Nilsson, who at the same time is deputy president of UEFA, visited the premises of the House of Football and got to know the investments that AFA has done in this aspect. In the premises of the House of Football, where the meeting will take place, the members of this committee inaugurated the museum of football, getting to know a part of Albanian history.
Further, the delegation moved to the stadium “Air Albania”, the largest infrastructure work built in our country with the financial contribution of “HatTrick”. As is the tradition in UEFA meetings, the members of the Committee held a football match where there were no shortage of goals and happy moments.
After the activity in the stadium, the whole delegation headed to the official dinner, where the President of the AFA, Armand Duka, thanked all the participants of this meeting in Tirana and considered as a historic event and appreciation for Albanian football the organization of such an important meeting in Tirana, expressing the conviction that the right decisions will be made for the good of European football.
“This activity for me is historic because it comes after a difficult time of the pandemic and we have made many meetings online and finally today we meet in person for the first time, after a period of almost two years and I wish this difficult period of COVID has passed. I believe that you will remember that after this difficult period, we met in Tirana and so you will remember even more Tirana or Albania. Being truly an appreciation for Albanian football, I would like to thank on behalf of the Albanian Football Association, the Chairman of the HatTrick Committee, Mr. Karl-Erik Nilsson and the UEFA administration that made possible the organization of this important event in Tirana. HatTrick, as one of the most important UEFA Committees, always makes important decisions. “I am very convinced that with the debates and discussions in the meetings, we will make the right decisions that will serve the development projects of European football” – said Duka.
The chairman of the HatTrick Committee, Karl-Erik Nilsson, after visiting the new premises of the House of Football and the National Stadium “Air Albania” expressed his satisfaction with the warm reception in Tirana, while thanking President Duka and the AFA administration and UEFA for organizing this meeting. He also spoke about the meeting of “HatTrick”, where he stressed that the decisions that will be taken will be for the development of European football. “I am very glad to see you again. It has been a long time since the last meeting and we have long planned this meeting in Tirana, but finally we are here and thank you for the hospitality Armand. Thank you very much for the warm hospitality today in Tirana. It was nice to see your new facilities and great opportunities to develop football through these fantastic facilities and it will get better when both fields are finished. And then we went to the stadium, a beautiful stadium, that when fully booked, I imagine a great atmosphere. As for HatTrick it is an important Committee, where we give the opportunity to 55 member federations to benefit from the projects and it is really a privilege to work with this Committee and I want to thank the UEFA administration for organizing these meetings. At the meeting, decisions will be made that will certainly be in the best interest of football, for the development of football. I would also like to thank the AFA administration for organizing this meeting “, – concluded Mr. Nilsson.
The President of the Albanian Football Association , Armand Duka, holds the position of Vice Chairman of the HatTrick Committee where he was elected in 2017, along with Leo Windtner, George Koumas, Michail Kassabov and Thomas Danilevicius, while members of this committee are Agim Ademi (President of FFK), Tom Borgions, Mette Christiansen, Donel Conway, Niccolơ Donna, Peter Frymuth, Sylvain Grimault, Neil Jardine, Kaarlo Kankkunen, Jozef Kliment, Vadym Kostiuchenko, Miroslaw Malinowski, Armen Melikbekyan, Filim Mitrofan , Teresa Romao, Jovan Surbatovic, Amirzhan Tussupbekov, Márton Vági, Yury Verheichyk, Cengiz Zülfikaroğlu and Kurt Zuppinger. The guest of honor at this meeting was also the President of the Football Federation of North Macedonia, Muamed Sejdini.
In the 17 years of the HatTrick program, UEFA has funded more than 1,500 projects with a huge financial value of 3 billion euros, turning HatTrick into the largest program for football development and solidarity.
