Ten of Oceania Football Confederation’s 11 Member Associations are being represented by their competition managers and CEOs, with finance officers set to arrive in time for the final two days.
With the OFC Champions League growing in popularity around the region, offering a pathway to renowned international FIFA competition the FIFA Club World Cup, calls to strengthen the quality of this regional tournament is increasing – and with it the quality of the leagues in Member Associations.
“Today the national league calendars across the Member Associations commence, for the most part, in September or October and conclude in March/April of the following year,” OFC competitions manager David Firisua explained.
“We have collated information about issues our Member Associations are facing with organising national leagues, and of course with the club licencing that was about to be introduced in 2012,” he says.
“The characteristics of the clubs is such that they are financially dependent on memberships. It’s based around communities or localities and this causes inconsistencies when it comes to youth development, and maintaining good players at the club.
“We also found that there was very limited youth development by clubs in national leagues and this continues to be a problem today in this region.”
Describing three broad categories of clubs – commercial/professional, community cooperative and mixed structure – Firisua said only the latter two apply to the region and both have limited commercial value.
The issues having been identified, how to address them came under the spotlight with FIFA Senior Manager of Member Associations James Johnson leading the debate.
“A national league needs to be a platform for players and coaches and for referees to enhance their skills,” Johnson said.
“The league is also a window to football for the public. They are judging an association on the way they are performing through their national team and then also the national league. And finally it’s the basis to attract money to the game and redistribute at all levels.”
What components could contribute to the strengthening of national leagues in the region was put to the attendees with the responses tending to overlap.
“The quality of the field taking part, a good structure to the competition and supporting partners are all important, as is the marketing and communication elements,” Tahiti competitions manager Charles Ariiotima contributed.
“We should be producing something that leaves a legacy,” Fiji Football Association CEO Bob Kumar said.
“There should always be an effort to improve on what you’re already doing and that should be strengthening the end product. That way, you have a marketable product and can seek out sponsorship and get a greater return.”
Club Licencing was also covered in the day one agenda with Johnson sharing vital information relating to the governing and regulatory framework at club level.
His outline was then further developed by FIFA consultant and former AFC Head of Development Kaita Sugihara.
Sugihara focussed on using club licencing as a development tool who provided examples of implementation strategies which could be employed in OFC’s Member Associations.
He conceded that implementing the development aspect of club licencing is not a simple task – due to the associated financial requirements for hiring staff for example – it is not impossible.
“Club licencing can be used more strategically and alongside marketing you can be creative to adapt to your situation,” he said.
One example Sugihara used to illustrate his argument for marketing was as simple as transforming the clubs into “community clubs” in order to create a brand.
“The club name should include the city name and a nick name,” he says.
“If a team is called Electricity Supply – there will be little to no interest. Using the alternative format of city and nick name won’t guarantee a public following, but it gives you a better chance of creating a marketable and interesting brand.”
The FIFA/OFC Development Seminar continues on tomorrow with the marketing and communication of national leagues in Oceania. On Sunday the focus switches to the mentoring of CEOs and General Secretaries and is expected to cover FIFA’s development programmes and MA governance.
The final two days of the seminar will see the finance officers arrive in Auckland, to address how to improve financial management strategies in their respective associations.