The international community will celebrate World Football Day at the end of this week. The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky and the head of the specialized federation Pavel Prokudin exchanged football news on the eve of the holiday.
The Football Federation was created in Pridnestrovie back in 1991. Reorganization was carried out in 2015. This republican public organization accredited as a sports federation has been headed by Pavel Prokudin since 2017. He informed the President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic about the state of affairs in the area he represents today. The main result of the year: football in Pridnestrovie is alive and actively developing. We are talking about both professional and amateur areas of this mass sport, the popularization of which is prescribed by the Development Strategy of the Republic. Pavel Prokudin spoke about the events held during the year – competitive ones and aimed at popularizing football. He made a special mention of the “Leather Ball” tournament, revived in Pridnestrovie. School games are being held for the third year. Coverage exceeds 4 000 participants per year. 240 teams compete for the cup on average. Age categories: 5-6, 7-8, 9-11 grades. About 10% are girls' teams, which corresponds to global trends in the involvement of the female population in the football community. The competitive spirit is growing stronger not only among young sportsmen, but also at the level of leadership of the cities and regions they represent. Such interest is beneficial for the tournament, as it allows us to increase the level of its holding, the speaker noted. He called the attention to the tournament of top officials of the state and their participation as spectators, fans and guests of honor at the award ceremonies as a significant factor.
The interlocutors talked about the development of the sports, football in particular, infrastructure of the republic. It is noted that all constructed fields are in demand. New requests are coming from the field. There are requests related to the provision of additional lighting for sports fields and playing fields, which will allow them to be used at dusk, and therefore further increase attendance.
Pavel Prokudin drew attention to world statistics discussing the measures taken to popularize mass sports: there is a real chance in the country of taking a worthy place in the standings of international championships only if at least 3% of the country’s residents play football. The Presidential Adviser said that work on sports and specifically football education begins from a very early age in Pridnestrovie. “The Football at School” project was launched Last year. Seminars were held for physical education teachers who took on coaching activities and received special licenses. The necessary equipment for conducting classes has been purchased. Another fifty applications from schools were received this year. Let's move on. The football community is getting younger. A kindergarten football festival was organized for the first time with funds from a presidential grant, in which 160 preschool children took part in 2023.
Another important area is ensuring professional refereeing of football matches. The seventh year of the Young Referee School has been enrolled. 63 specialists have already been graduated, half of whom are involved in professional matches, including international ones.
Vadim Krasnoselsky highly appreciated the work done in the past year. He confirmed the focus on popularizing mass sports, noting that with this approach the likelihood of training world-class professionals and champions increases. The President called not to lower the bar, but to gradually raise it. The PMR President told about the Sheriff Football team, emphasizing that these are high-level professionals whom Pridnestrovian youth look up to.
The interlocutors discussed plans for the coming year, exchanged ideas on improving existing ones and new projects launching.
