Professionalisation
of Leagues

Botswana: conceptualising a business and strategic plan to form a self-managed league

After several constructive and insightful working group exchanges between the BFA and FIFA, the FIFA Professional Football team conducted a thorough review and analysis of the current league structure, its clubs and the overall conditions in the country. In particular, the FIFA team collected and analysed relevant data concerning club administration, commercial matters, ticketing, merchandising, stadiums and training facilities, social media, and key performance indicators.

To have a complete understanding of the financial capacity of the league and the clubs, FIFA reviewed the financial statements of the league and its clubs, allowing the BFA to establish concrete steps towards the creation of a business plan and a commercial strategy tailor-made to the reality of Botswana.

As a result of this analysis, FIFA presented a comprehensive business and strategic plan consisting of 12 fields of action to implement over the coming three years.

Taking into account transformation within all football stakeholders, 12 fields of action have been defined

These detailed recommendations will serve the BFA as the guiding principles for the development of a self-managed league, a path the BFA will embark upon with continued guidance and support offered by the professional football team in the process.

The professionalisation of the league in Botswana is an example of FIFA’s unwavering commitment, will continue to honour in the future by contributing its expertise towards the successful outcome of similar international projects the world over.

“In line with FIFA’s vision to professionalise the game across the globe, the FIFA Professional Football Department stands committed and ready to advise federations, leagues and their clubs all over the world, as is the case with the BFA, in an effort to make a real and impactful difference in terms of the strategic development of the game and bring football in these countries to the next level,” said Ornella Desirée Bellia, Head of Professional Football at FIFA.

Mozambique: a new approach to the development and professionalisation of domestic football

The recent election of Feizal Sidat as President of the Mozambican Football Association (MFA) has sparked a new approach in which the development and professionalisation of football in Mozambique is part of a new strategic vision.

Under this context, the MFA has requested the support of FIFA Professional Football department in terms of reviewing Moçambola, the flagship Mozambican club competition, in terms of its format, size, duration, as well as the overall sustainability of the competition and the league.  

The assessment phase started by the end of May with a survey sent to the association, the league and the participating clubs. This survey covered different aspects of football in Mozambique from grassroots to professional football. Some of the most important elements were the perception on how the stakeholders see the main challenges and what are the strategic initiatives being planned to tackle such aspects. As part of the assessment methodology, the following steps were taken:

·        Review of the league’s relevant documentation;

·        Review of club’s documentation, namely financial reports, activity and marketing plans;

·        One-to-one interviews with key people from the different stakeholders.

The end of this assessment phase ended in August with the presentation of a “Diagnosis and Recommendations Report” presented to the presidents of MFA, the league and the clubs.

Currently Mozambican football is undergoing a difficult period with a going concern about the Mozambican Football League and the Moçambola as break-even has not been reached over the past editions. The league’s cost structure in Mozambique is heavily dependent on transportation costs, which represent around 90% of yearly expenditure.

The FIFA report proposed recommendations around three pillars:

·        Governance and management aspects;

·        Competition format;

·        Marketing and commercial aspects.

The assessment and recommendations were well received by the different stakeholders and there is a clear understanding that a turnaround needs to happen in order to guarantee the sustainability of the competition in a four-year timeframe.

Among the recommendations, FIFA has presented different alternative competition formats that might be better suited for the Mozambican context and has suggested the change to a July-June season as proposed by CAF.

Subject to additional support request by MFA the following phases will entail the definition of priorities, capacity building for the stakeholders and mentoring in order to establish a roadmap and a clear action plan to implement the agreed recommendations.

President of MFA Feizal Sidat stated:

“With the assistance of FIFA, through the services provided by its Professional Football department, our association attained an operational review and clear recommendations, which will enable us to improve the organisational structure and economic sustainability of our domestic club competitions. We are looking forward to continue working with FIFA’s Professional Football department on the next phases of the project.”