The Albanian Football Association continues the development of coaches, Ardi Behari presents the balance of the first six months

2026-07-11 15:20:00, Sport CNA

The Albanian Football Association continues the development of coaches, Ardi

The Football Federation continues to invest in the education and professional training of coaches, considering it one of the main pillars of the development of football in the country. During the first half of 2026, the Education Department at the AFF has developed 14 licensed courses, while by the end of the year, the organization of six more courses is foreseen.

The Director of Education at the Albanian Football Federation, Ardi Behari, in a statement for fshf.org, assessed the progress of the education programs during the first half of 2026, emphasizing that 14 courses were developed and 342 coaches graduated. He highlighted the development of the UEFA PRO course, the successful organization of the UEFA C course in Gjirokastra, as well as the approval by UEFA of the UEFA A course for goalkeeper coaches, an important achievement for the Albanian Football Federation. Behari also highlighted the growing interest in the professional training of coaches, the application of new assessment methods and plans for the organization of new courses, including UEFA Futsal C, in order to increase the quality and development of Albanian football.

"We are not finished yet, we have several courses in the final stages and preparations for the resumption of the season in September. It has been a successful half-year where a total of 14 courses have been held and we expect that six more will be held in the rest of the year. Starting with our most prestigious course, UEFA PRO, which is ongoing. It is a satisfactory level, not only in terms of its content, but also in terms of attendance. There are 21 students, 2 of whom are girls, and I think it is going excellently. Also, all the other courses, starting with UEFA C, that have been held this year, are distributed. The novelty is its development in Gjirokastra with complete success, a maximum interest, but also an excellent attendance and then the usual courses starting with UEFA B, UEFA A, the sports medicine course, the Fitness Coach course and the goalkeeper course. In total, there are a considerable number of graduated students, there are 342 students, among which 30 are girls, which shows the extraordinary interest that the Albanian Football Association has in the development of girls' football.

A major innovation in this half year is an extraordinary success, in fact, not only for the Albanian Football Association, the Technical Directorate, but also the Goalkeeping Department, especially with the extraordinary contribution of the coordinator of this course, Erion Meta, we have received UEFA approval for the UEFA A goalkeeper course to be approved and licensed by UEFA, a fact that not many European federations have.

We are also working hard to do the same with the Fitness Coach A course. I think that an innovation of the first half of the year in the courses that have ended has been the testing method, which is something new with the phonics part. A trainer develops the part of the training session that he has in the exam assignments, being audible and readable, not only by the disciplinary commission, but also by the students themselves.

The level is satisfactory, I think that the number of coaches who are willing to contribute to youth football and above has always been increasing and is increasingly of higher quality.

Another innovation is that we plan for the second half of the year, we are working closely with the President's office, the grouping and publication of materials on our official website. In our near future plans is the UEFA Futsall C course. It will give another boost to the preparation of coaches for the demands of the market. We are preparing it and will soon announce it on our website, "- said Ardi Behari.