Like many football fans, I am sceptical about Fifa, its governance and its contribution to the management of the game. However, there are some indications that it is talking the talk and taking a few hesitant steps to walking the walk.
The international
governing body aims to tackle football's growing imbalance with a new diploma
in club management primarily for executives outside elite teams. Ornella D.
Bellia, FIFA's head of professional football, says finding new ways to control
clubs' own revenue streams is key to achieve sustainability.
Though financial
prudence and commercial know-how are important skills, emotional intelligence
is crucial – especially in times like these.
[Whether that can be taught is a moot point]
As part of FIFA's Vision 2023, the international governing
body aims to tackle this growing imbalance with the launch of a new diploma in
club management, among other projects, aiming to democratise the leadership
skills needed in football today.
"Right now, in the football industry we have a
situation where some elite clubs have taken the lead with all others being
unable to compete at the same level. FIFA's vision is to create a more balanced
system where at least 50 clubs from every region of the world are able to reach
that level," says Ornella D. Bellia, FIFA's head of professional football and
one of the directors of the programme.
In the 2018/19 season, Europe's big five leagues accounted for 75 per cent of
the revenue generated by clubs in Europe. And in that season alone, turnover
from top 30 clubs for the first time ever accounted for more than half of all
top division club revenue on the continent.
Globally, the top 20 clubs – of course all from Europe – generated combined
revenue of €9.3 billion. No clubs outside Europe are ranked top 30 across the
world. The evidence of imbalance is striking, and the issue has been
well-covered.
"FIFA is aiming to create a wider base of top clubs," Bellia told off
the pitch.com
Catering to executives primarily outside the elite, FIFA's diploma in club
management, consisting of lectures and knowledge sharing, aims to increase the
accessibility to the key skills needed to run a club today, in a media
landscape where the sport faces threats from the overflow of offers available
to consumers.
One of the key aspects of the diploma is sustainability. Ultimately, the topics
FIFA's diploma aims to teach – club operations, stadium management, marketing
etc. – all speak to creating a business whose primary income streams depend on
as little outside variables as possible.
"Clubs have historically relied on TV rights, owner financing and
overspending, but it's time to rethink the way the overall football system is
functioning," Bellia says.
"It's really important to promote a more sustainable ecosystem with clubs
that are able to generate revenues at a level so they can invest in sporting
activities, be it on players, youth systems etc. You have to focus on the
long-term strategy and not the short-term vision of winning a title or a
match," she says.
Deloitte Sports Business have raised the need for major adjustments in the way in which the game is run, particularly reacting to the opportunities and threats presented by a more digital economy: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/covid-19-football-and-digital-2020-21-season-and-beyond.html
In particular, the nature of sponsorships is likely to change and they may need more effort to secure from firms with constrained marketing budgets in the wake of the pandemic.
Deloitte note: 'In the long term, commercial partners will still want to be associated with football, but clubs will increasingly need to prove their worth to sponsors. Alignment on brand and purpose is now the minimum. Sponsors will place a higher value on the clubs that have a deep understanding of their fanbase, especially where that knowledge is underpinned by data.'
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