Interview: Irina Rybalchenko
The President of the Federation of Andorran Football (FAF) since 2019, Fèlix Alvarez, has been passionate about football since childhood and is familiar with this sport as a player, as a fan and as a trainer. We talked to Felix about the evolution of football – both men’s and women’s – the challenges of sports infrastructure and the economic needs of the federation.
What is the evaluation of the Multisegur League this year?
The evaluation of the last league was very positive. The clubs decided to increase the number of participating teams from 8 to 10, and we were afraid that this would affect the quality, but this has not happened. The truth is that the teams from the second division played their matches without any problems.
What is FAF today? How many clubs does the federation unite?
In terms of clubs, we have ten teams in the first division, five in the second division, and 13 in mini-football (futsal football).
With a population of 80,000-85,000 we have a total of about 3,000 licenses divided between football and mini-football.
What are the strongest teams today?
I would say it’s UE Santa Coloma, winners of the League Multisegur Assegurances and the Constitució Valira Seguretat Cup. In terms of mini-football, Ranger’s and Encamp put on a great show, playing in both the Liga Viatges Pantours and Memorial Canut. These are the clubs with the best teams. However, there are other squads that are developing quickly.
What is the difference between professional football in Andorra and professional football in Spain, for example?
FAF is not currently recognized on a professional scale. There are clubs from the top four with players who can be considered professionals because they can make a living from football. But that doesn’t compare to the big countries.
Spanish football can really be considered more professional because players are available to the club pretty much all week long. There are already quite a few clubs here that train in the morning, outside of working hours. We have more cases like that and will have to follow that formula. We need to keep up with other clubs.
And what do we need to keep up with other clubs?
For two or three years we have been working intensively on professionalizing the figure of the football referee. This is a global problem: referees are not evolving at the same pace as the league and players are growing, both in football and in mini-football.
Physical preparation is one of the aspects we are most concerned about, and we ask ourselves… If players train four days a week, why do referees only train one day?
We often have to deal with circumstances where two teams have to share a football pitch. So, we think it’s vital to increase the infrastructure if we want this sport to grow.
How important is football to Andorra? What are the most popular sports in Andorra at the moment?
Football is an important sport in Andorra, but I wouldn’t say it’s the most important one. Traditionally Andorra is a country of winter sports such as skiing. That said, our federation has the most licenses, even more than the ski federation…
Basketball and rugby are also very popular sports in the country.
Does FAF receive subventions from the Andorran government?
Previously we had a subvention of about 25 thousand euros, which is a small amount in the scale of the federation. And we gave it up in favor of other federations.
Today 90% to 95% of our income is subsidized by UEFA and FIFA, which are our “sponsors” at the European level.
This year, however, we will be asking for it.
What is the annual budget of the federation?
At the end of June, we closed a budget of 9 million euros. It should be noted that of the 9 million euros, there is also a part that represents the amortization of fixed assets. If we ignore this part, we are talking about 7.5 million euros of the current budget.
When it comes to popularizing football in the country, how can we attract young players and win more fans?
Historically, Andorran football does not have many fans and supporters because we are a country that lives off tourism and commerce and most Andorrans work on weekends. We even find it difficult to fill the pitch in qualifying matches – even if we distribute tickets for free and invite people.
Are there any famous footballers in Andorra?
We have two world-famous footballers living here: Carles Puyol and Javier Saviola. I was not lucky enough to meet Carles in person, but we had contact with Javier Saviola. Despite the fact that he is a famous person, he is very simple and, above all, a good person. In fact, Saviola is one of the holders of 3,000 licenses, he plays mini-football in Andorra.
The names of Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué have been repeatedly mentioned in the press as being related to Andorra… Can we say that Andorra may have some common football development projects with them?
We don’t have any contacts with Pique. But we have had talks with Jaume Nogués and Francesc Destree. We, as a federation, are open to communicating with these great players. We would very much like to use their knowledge to improve teams, to find more professional players or to train Andorran footballers.
And what about women’s football, how is it developing?
I think that on a global level, women’s football surprises a lot of football fans. For many years ENFAF, an Andorran women’s football school, has also participated in the senior team of the Catalan League. This was unthinkable five or six years ago.
Two years ago, we created four women’s teams. Until now, it seemed unreal! Today, girls come to us because they want to play football. The fact that the Barça women’s team is performing very well helps us in terms of visibility for women’s football and attracting followers.