Red Star Back Bulgarian CSKA's Eastern Europe Football League Idea

Andrija Kaludjerovic (front) of Red Star Belgrade vies for the ball with Abdoulrazak Boukari (back) of Stade Rennes during their UEFA Europa League first leg playoff football game in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 August 2011

Vladan Lukic, president of Serbian football giants Red Star Belgrade, has backed Bulgarian CSKA Sofia's proposal for the creation of an Eastern European football league for clubs in the region that fail to make it into UEFA tournaments.

In an interview for the Bulgarian dnevnik.bg, Lukic has said he is not concerned by the fact that the other large Serbian club, Partizan Belgrade, have officially opposed the idea. Partizan, as well as the bigger Turkish and Greek clubs will understand the league's potential once it kicks off and will naturally join it, he believes.

"We all benefit from that. Our main goals are the Champions League and Europa League. However, as you see, some clubs fail to advance in these tournaments," Red Star's president pointed out, referring to Eastern Europe's major football clubs.

According to CSKA Sofia's president Dimitar Borisov, teams from 12 Eastern European countries, along with Ukrainian and Russian representatives, have expressed their interest in the idea, which sought to raise football standards and bring spectators back to the stadiums.

Borisov has stated he will seek support from UEFA and FIFA officials once his team's proposal gets more concrete.

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