TIRANA, January 4/ATA/ President of the Albanian Football Association Armand Duka spoke during an interview in public Albanian Radio-Television on the successes achieved in 2023 in the personal and collective aspect.
Duka was elected Vice President of the UEFA, the first Albanian elected in such a high position and the national team in football qualified for the European Championship “Germany 2024” after being ranked at the top of Group E of the qualifiers.
“The higher you go, the more difficult it is. The team must challenge itself in the level it has set. We will go to the European Championship where there are even better teams. The lot has put us in front of big names, such as Italy, Spain and Croatia. I’m not disappointed, I’m not upset. I am happy because I consider all the matches difficult. Our opponents are really big names and it is a pleasure to play against them. After all, by playing against the great teams you can become great, learn, or find the way how to become great”, said Duka.
Speaking about his election in the post of UEFA vice-president, Duka said:
“I am proud of the position of the vice-president of UEFA, but in no case do I consider it a personal merit, but a collective merit. Because you cannot be elected to this position because of the personal relationships you create with colleagues or counterparts. This comes as a result of the work and results you have achieved in your country. These results are not achieved alone, but with all colleagues, collaborators, footballers, staff and administration of the Albanian Football Association. So, I consider it the pride of Albanian national football that it has a place in the government of European football.”
Asked about the benefits that the National Team will have from qualifying for the European Championship, Duka said that:
“The participating teams, just for the participation in the Euro 2024 benefit 9.25 million euros each. Then, after every match, there are rewards: for a draw 500 thousand euros and for the victory 1 million euros.”/p.s./
