By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 27 – Czech and Slovak football associations are holding talks on creating a joint league and a cup designed to pit clubs from the two countries against each other. “The issue of a Czech-Slovak league is on the table. By mid-February, we have to sit down and say whether this makes sense or not,” Jan Kovacik, president of the Slovak football association, was reported saying.
“We are also talking about the possibility of [creating] a common cup.”
The February meeting will see Jan Kovacik and his Czech counterpart, Miroslav Pelta, discuss chances of creating a common league and a Czech-Slovak cup, according to the newspaper.
Rudolf Repka, general secretary of the Czech football association, said that it was “necessary to sit down at one table and discuss everything.”
The joint cup would be hosted rotationally in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and replace the respective national cups hosted by the two neighbouring countries. There was no indication how this would impact on qualification for Euripean competition.
Meanwhile, local observers have pointed out that Czech football clubs are considered stronger than their Slovak counterparts. Currently, Czech sides Slovan Liberec and Viktoria Plzen are ranked 47th and 53rd, respectively, in UEFA’s season club coefficients 2013/2014 ranking. In comparison, Slovakia’s AS Trencin and Slovan Bratislava are ranked 140th and 144th, respectively.
The latest initiative was announced at a meeting of officials from five European football associations, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria and Hungary.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia parted their ways in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
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