FC Celtic thrilled about Slovenia

“Slovenia is a wonderful country for sports practice” – Brendan Rodgers did not hide his enthusiasm for our green, active and healthy country. The legendary football club Celtic from Glasgow was founded in 1888 and today has over 9 million supporters and fans all around the world. The team chose Slovenia for their summer preparations, which strengthens the position of Slovenia as a destination for sports tourism. The football team was based in Maribor and played 3 friendly matches with Slovenian football clubs – NK Celje, NK Olimpija Ljubljana, NK Maribor.

“The friendly matches against the Slovenian clubs were a good test for us and our physical condition. We are aware that there is still much to accomplish in order to be a strong competitor in the Champions League qualifiers. I am convinced there is an exciting season ahead of us,” said football star Brendan Rodgers, Celtic’s coach and former professional football player. Besides him, the delegation team consisted of 16 staff members and 31 football players, including Craig Gordon, the Scottish national team goalie, Scott Brown, captain of FC Celtic and the Scottish national team, Emilio Izaguirre, captain of the Honduran national team, Mikael Lustig from Sweden, Stefan Johansen from the Netherlands and Nir Bitton from Israel.

The decision of the Scottish football club to spend their summer in Slovenia is very important for positioning the country as an excellent destination for sports tourism and the organisation of preparation for world-class athletes and international sports events, as well as the development of sports tourism products. “During our past visits to Slovenia, we saw first-hand that the country has everything to become a centre of sports tourism: a favourable climate, word-class facilities, a passion for football and, most importantly, hospitality,” said Tony Asghar, General Manager of Revolution Sports Travel.

The preparation was accompanied by journalists from the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Times, who also experienced study tours around green, active and healthy Slovenia, organised by the Slovenian Tourist Board.

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