Bulgaria to Provide BGN 1.1 M for Hosting U-17 Euro in 2015

Bulgaria's Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev announced that the state will provide BGN 1.1 M for hosting the UEFA European U-17 Championship in 2015.

Kralev said that the programme has been approved and a contract will be signed soon, the news website Dnevnik reports.

Initially, the project of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFS) foresaw two centres for staging the championship – the cities of Burgas and Plovdiv.

The initial plan foresaw the inclusion of eight stadiums, but due to problems with the stadiums in Plovdiv, Bulgaria will apply with only four venues.

The stadiums chosen to host the tournament are: “Lazur” in Burgas, “Beroe” in Stara Zagora, the stadium in Sliven and the modernised venue in Sozopol.

In October 2014 the press director of BFS and director of the organisation committee Pavel Kolev said that the budget was EUR 1.15 M.

Kolev stated that at the time BFS was investing its own funds, as the resources allocated by UEFA for the organisation of the championship were not to be granted before the signing of the contract.

Kralev revealed one of his ideas for the new legislation on sport, which foresees university clubs to apply for licence and participate in tournaments on an equal footing with professional clubs.

The Minister explained that at present there were private universities that could grant sport scholarships and provide excellent conditions for the holding of games.

Bulgaria will host the football tournament from May 6 to 22, which will include 16 teams for the first time since 2002.

The Championship will act as Europe's qualifiers for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be held in Chile.

This will be the first UEFA youth final tournament hosted by Bulgaria and the country's first participation in UEFA's junior finals since the 1991 U16 Championship.

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