Former Yugoslav national team player Ivan Gudelj said today that the eventual formation of a regional league would improve the quality of football.
"Over a period of time, I think we could do it. We need to analyze the national leagues, which I can't say are bad. The Croatian league is good, all the players came from those clubs. But the quality would certainly be higher when one league would be created for teams from the region," said Gudelj, who is a guest of the international Friendship Tournament in Bijeljina, in which the cadets of Budućnost and Sutjeska also participate.
Gudelj said that the main problem in the formation of the regional competition is the fans.
"It's a question that keeps coming up. I think that league would be a good solution to raise the quality. But the fans are perhaps the biggest problem, in terms of security. However, I'm convinced that everything would be of better quality, that in that case there would be much more audience in the stadiums," said Gudelj.
He spent his entire club career in Hajduk from Split, which he said is currently in crisis, but that the crisis is temporary.
"Hajduk has a great tradition. It is a club that can once again fight for the first place in Croatia and in a short period of time. It is inevitable. It must constantly be at the top, strive to be part of Europe," Gudelj said. .
This 54-year-old former midfielder added that money is a big problem and compared the club from Split to Red Star.
"Zvezda is a big club, it was the champion of Europe and the world. That is something special and rare. Partizan was also good, as was Velež. But it is almost impossible to compare it now. Young players leave at the age of 18, even earlier. "It's a market and it can't stop. Now 17-year-old boys are playing in clubs, the boundaries are shifting. That's why tournaments like this are important for young players," said Gudelj.
He expressed his wish for the Friendship Tournament to become a tradition and pointed out that it is one of the best competitions in Europe for children born in 1999.
"Boys from the area of former Yugoslavia participate in this tournament and it is an exceptional opportunity to compare young men from clubs from this area. I am sure that some 20 to 30 percent of these boys will one day play for the A selection," said Gudelj.
In the Friendship Tournament in Bijeljina, which starts today, in addition to Budućnosti and Sutjeska, last year's winner Dinamo Zagreb, as well as Sloboda Tuzla, OFK Belgrade, Crvena zvezda, Velež, Osijek, Partizan, Vardar, Željezničar, Zagreb, Rijeka, Vojvodina, Sarajevo and Napredak are participating. .
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