We must be more professional, AFC president says
We must be more professional, AFC president says
Agence France-Presse Singapore
When Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammed bin Hammam talks about developing the game in the world's most populous continent, the word he keeps coming back to is professionalism.
This, he feels, is what is missing from the sport in many parts of the region, and what is hampering its growth potential.
The Qatari has grand plans for Asian soccer, and is the driving force behind a policy of expansionism.
His dream is to create successful and lucrative Asian leagues modeled on the English Premier League.
He launched Vision Asia, a program to raise the standards of soccer, in 2002, but has come to realize it is overambitious and must be scaled back.
While some countries like Japan and South Korea have moved forward successfully and built reputable domestic leagues, most countries in Asia are still struggling.
The program will be implemented in Indonesian next year in Bandung and Yogyakarta.
Bin Hammam initially envisaged his project, which brings in experts with specialist skills, being extended from an original eight pilot countries to all 46 that make up the AFC.
"We thought we were going to cover 46 associations within two years but we have discovered this is not feasible at all," he told AFP in an interview.
"Not all the organizations are ready to implement what we are thinking."
The problem is that some national associations still consist of little more than a part-timer answering the phone and shuffling papers.
"When you hear of an association you think of a board of directors, offices, leagues and clubs, but when you are building an organization in some cases there are no leagues, no clubs, no directors," he said.
"It needs more than funding and training, and we have to take it gradually.
"Generally speaking, football is the number one sport in Asia. It is growing but what is not growing is professionalism."
Hampering progress in some countries is corruption, with inadequate local laws hindering the fight to stamp it out.
Doping is also an issue, but it is not clear how much of an issue as drug testing is not carried out in many domestic competitions.
But what bin Hammam is really worried about is the lack of a professional approach in some countries, not just by those in authority, but players, referees and others associated with the game.
"There are 10 countries that have made progress and they are ready," he said, referring to nations like Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which all have functioning leagues and competitive national teams.
"They are implementing professional polices, some are maybe 90 percent close to that, some 80, some 70.
"Others though still need work."
He sees the hugely popular English Premier League as the model to follow, and again comes back to the need for a more professional attitude and for clubs to understand that they must be run as businesses.
"We are modeling Asian leagues on the English Premier League, where clubs, leagues and organizations are professional," he said.
"The challenge for us is how to make our leagues as attractive, as rich. Living in Asia with all its economic power, we don't think this challenge is impossible."
While Bin Hammam has a vision, it is evident that he does not always see clearly.
This was rammed home last week during the fiasco over the Asian player of the year awards, where he deemed it more important for a player to attend the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur than to recognize their achievements.
The policy backfired, with none of Asia's best players, who ply their trade in Europe, able to make the 12-hour trip to Malaysia. As a result, all were snubbed.