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.