Prva liga Telemach is entering the new season with some interesting changes: a change also regarding rest periods due to yellow cards
Photo: Žiga Zupan / Sportida
Before the start of the new top-flight season, the Football Association of Slovenia presented updates related to the activities they conduct in the 1. SNL and club football. As they emphasized, the operation of clubs is crucial for the development of football, and the FA of Slovenia also dedicates significant attention and importance to this area.
At the media event, Martin Koželj, General Secretary of the FA, Renata Podviz Čeferin, Head of the Competition Sector, Marko Čepelnik, Head of Club Football, and Matjaž Krajnik, who hosted the event, presented the already implemented activities of the association in club football and the plans for the coming years, when the association plans to further develop the club football segment. “We have prepared a plan of activities, areas where we can help and lead, but it will still largely depend on the clubs,” said General Secretary Koželj at the outset.
Initially, the work of the Professional Football Committee and the method of delegating matches were presented: “We want the method of delegating matches to be better understood; clubs have a significant say in when matches are played. In most cases, we can accommodate them, but unfortunately not always,” said Marko Čepelnik during the presentation of the committee’s work, who has been overseeing the development of club football in Slovenia for over a year. One of the new features for the new season is the possibility of changing match hosting, and a change in the rules regarding yellow cards was also introduced. Players now rest after receiving their fourth, eighth, eleventh, and fourteenth yellow card.
Another key area of the FA’s work in ensuring optimal conditions for the development of club football is infrastructure. At the media gathering, they presented the activities that the FA is already undertaking. The Hat-trick 2022-2028 infrastructure project is underway, through which more than 9 million euros will be invested in infrastructure across Slovenia – two-thirds from UEFA’s infrastructure projects and one-third from the FA’s integral budget. Koželj emphasized that the FA is “the only sports association investing in infrastructure that isn’t even its own property in the end.” Stadiums are mostly owned by municipalities or clubs, so the FA also requires cooperation from municipalities in infrastructure projects.
The media were also introduced to the FA’s infrastructure regulations, which were adopted in 2022, stating that stadium lighting has become a mandatory licensing criterion for playing in the top-flight competition starting this season. “It is right to establish rules and regulations that set some frameworks, while also guiding and encouraging development,” said Koželj on this topic. “The FA, together with the clubs, constantly develops the top-flight competition product, and there are no deviations in this regard, as lighting represents the basic requirement for quality television broadcasting of football matches,” added Renata Podviz Čeferin.
In Radomlje, a stadium for 1. SNL matches is planned
The FA presented infrastructure projects that have already been completed – from the new pitch in Radomlje, where a stadium capable of hosting 1. SNL matches is planned, to co-financing a training area in Domžale, renovation of the stadium in Celje, heating of the grass field in Murska Sobota, and renovation of the grass surface at the Ljudski vrt stadium in Maribor. In addition to the infrastructure project, plans include heating the grass field in Lendava, a sports park in Grosuplje, two new pitches in Štepanjsko naselje, new dressing rooms in Kidričevo, and lighting in Ajdovščina.
At the event, the FA representatives also spoke for the first time about the third important pillar of club football – the strategy for the development of the 1. SNL, created by the FA together with representatives of the top-flight clubs’ working group. It is a comprehensive, precise, and ambitious plan for the development of the top-flight competition until 2030, with the main goal being to increase attendance at top-flight stadiums. “Club football is extremely important to us, as it represents the environment in which players train daily and where the most important development occurs. Our goal is to finally position club football alongside national team football as a key product of the FA,” said Koželj, emphasizing the crucial successful sports development of young players. This strategy, being tackled for the first time in this form for the 1. SNL, has also been modeled after the Austrian league and involves collaboration with the clubs.
The strategy also includes co-financing clubs for developing national team players, a program the FA introduced last year, and this year increases the amount from 170,000 to 270,000 euros. Last year, 80 clubs received funding. The FA also explained that after the departure of the former national teams director Miran Pavlin – who is leaving for the English top-flight club Nottingham Forest as sports director – they are searching for his successor, with the name to be announced by autumn.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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#Nogometna zveza Slovenije
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