Goal Programme - Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2001

Football is the number one sport in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Even during the turbulent years of conflict, football never ground to a halt and the game quickly boomed again after the end of hostilities, even though there were still separate ethnic groups within the association, which was formed in 1992 and subsequently recognised by FIFA. Finally, in May 2002, these groups were united within the association, a move that led to the creation of a unified domestic league championship. In 2000, FIFA organised a friendly match in Sarajevo between the FIFA World Stars and Bosnia-Herzegovina, thereby breathing new life into the region's football. Today, Bosnia-Herzegovina are regular features in international football and were only one goal away from sealing qualification for EURO 2004 in Portugal. The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking also proves that Bosnia-Herzegovina are returning to the top table of international football, with the country jumping 25 places in 2003.

At its meeting on 4 July 2001, the Goal Bureau approved a project proposal that foresaw two locations, Orasje and Sarajevo. However, the Sarajevo project proved to be too difficult to realise, and as a result, work has concentrated on building a technical centre in Orasje with an artificial turf pitch and a stadium with a natural turf pitch. Thanks to this artificial turf pitch, the association can now provide all players of all age levels with training facilities all year round.