MP proposes direct management of Lithuanian Football Federation, blaming it for sport’s ‘deplorable situation’

MP Mykolas Majauskas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, has proposed introducing direct management for the Lithuanian Football Federation. He says Lithuanian football is in an appalling condition and the federation is unable to carry our reform.

“We need a normalisation phase and to appoint temporary regulator for that period. We need UEFA’s direct management. Or, with UEFA’s blessing, we need the Lithuanian government to take action and appoint a temporary regulator. A UEFA-appointed representative should also be considered,” Majauskas told BNS on Wednesday after a joint meeting of his committee and the parliamentary Commission for Youth and Sport Affairs.

In his words, the federation also needs independent operational and financial audits, as well as legal amendments in line with the FIFA standards, and also new democratic elections of the federation’s bodies should be held, the politician added.

Mykolas Majauskas / L. Balandžio/BNS nuotr.

According to Majauskas, the federation’s explanations and answers to MPs’ various questions at the joint meeting on Wednesday were not convincing and failed to change the opinion that, in its current make-up, the federation is unable to manage and carry out necessary changes.

Lithuania currently ranks 142nd in the FIFA rankings, which is the worst result in history.

Majauskas says the responsibility for such a “deplorable situation” lies to a large extent with the Lithuanian Football Federation.

“This is a consequence of its inability to carry out necessary reforms and to represent the broad football community,” he told the committee. “The question is whether the federation’s activities are in principle compatible with the interests of Lithuanian football.”