Lifelong Passion for Football
Many managers and coaches who have visited the Dana Cup over the years have no doubt become acquainted with Mamuka Kvaratskhelia. Either in his role as tour manager for many Georgian teams over 31 years or as a journalist. Or just as the energetic and determined man moving at a fast trot around the center area.
Mamuka is 59 years old, born and raised in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
"I've been passionate about football ever since I was a boy. I played as a boy and wanted to watch football matches on TV, but as part of the communist Soviet Union, we were only allowed to watch the big international matches if, for example, Spartak Moscow or Dynamo Moscow had qualified. We couldn't pick up the international TV signals, but a professor at the University of Georgia in Tbilisi constructed an antenna that was set up on a mountain outside the city. Here we could find a signal from Turkish TV, and then we could see my later great idol Preben Elkjær, Michael Laudrup, Søren Lerby and all the other Danish stars,” says Mamuka, who later took the middle name Preben to honor Preben Elkjær.
The communist regime that had held the entire region in an iron grip for decades was not Mamuka's cup of tea, and he was happy when the wall fell in 1989 with a view of the western world.
Through Danish contacts, he learned that there was a huge football tournament in Hjørring called the Dana Cup. Mamuka contacted the tournament's then director John Robert Larsen, the current director Jette Andersen and marketing manager Alison Leigh Forman.
"I told them I had a team from Georgia that wanted to participate in the Dana Cup, but we had no money. We got a great deal with the Dana Cup and were welcome. The only challenge was that even though we hadn't been part of the Soviet Union since 1989, we still had to go to Moscow to get a visa. At that time, Denmark had no embassy in Georgia. It was a lengthy process, but we managed it. We had to fly to Copenhagen and continue the journey by train. I was so excited that I practically didn't sleep the whole trip," he recalls.
“That same year, Denmark had to play an away qualifier against Armenia. I was accredited as a journalist and asked DBU's press officer at the time if it was possible for me to meet my great idol Preben Elkjær, who would be co-commentating the match. It was possible, and when Elkjær heard that I was from Georgia, he asked if I could help him pronounce the Armenian names.”
“My dream came true and since then we have developed a warm friendship and I have visited Preben several times at his home. My fascination with Preben Elkjær is so great that I have taken Preben as my middle name," laughs Mamuka, who helped found the Georgian Football Association after the fall of the Wall.
In 2008, he ran for the presidency of the Football Federation. His candidacy was not received with enthusiasm in the highest political circles.
“The then Georgian president sent four ‘bodyguards’. I was beaten up and hospitalized for many days. But if you do something good, good will come back. If you do something bad, bad comes back, and the then Georgian president is in prison," says Mamuka, who has made football his life's work.
He is currently employed by UEFA. For several years he has been a press officer responsible for organizing and running press conferences at major matches, including the Champions League. He has now been promoted as a UEFA delegate with responsibility for the entire organization of the matches. His first assignment is already in August.
He is also associated with Open Fund Football, which works with children in 90 villages in Georgia.
"In connection with Denmark's qualifier against Georgia in 2018, I invited all the Danish press to my home in Tbilisi. In return, Carsten Werge, who was employed at TV3 at the time, invited my parents for a return visit to Copenhagen. Free of charge. It was a huge moment,” Mamuka smiles.
Dana Cup Hjørring 2025
Foto: Hans Ravn
