Lithuanian soccer coach to go into politics

  • 2008-07-29
  • In cooperation with BNS
VILNIUS- Algimantas Liubinskas, coach of Lithuania's national soccer team has decided to leave the world of sports and jump into the political arena. 

Liubinskas is hoping to win a seat in the parliament representing the Tvarka ir Teisingumas (Order and Justice) party.

Liubinskas, though not ready to give up soccer completely, was quoted by UEFA (United European Football Association) as saying: "It's a pity that I have to say goodbye to the national team, but sometimes in life you have to make big decisions," he said. "I wanted to combine two jobs, like Oleg Blokhin did in Ukraine, but the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) board was against that."

Lithuania is getting ready for the FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds this Fall, and thus far they have no replacement for former coach Liubinskas.

General director Yulius Kvedaras isn't ruling out the possibility of a foreign coach leading the national team.