Education initiatives help FAs

UEFA's commitment to helping its 53 European member national associations remains total, and has now been reinforced by a series of educational initiatives that will allow association staff to further their professional development.

New training programmes initiated by European football's governing body, in conjunction with internationally recognised academic partners, are being introduced – expanding UEFA's Knowledge & Information Sharing Scenario (KISS) which aims to share good practices among associations and help them manage themselves even more efficiently.

The objective of the new programmes is to enable national association staff at any level to develop and acquire academic qualifications in their work. These can include certificates, diplomas and master's degrees, and staff would continue in their professional jobs while undertaking their studies. UEFA believes that the knowledge gained, experience gleaned and contacts made will also be beneficial to the associations.

The UEFA Certificate in Football Management (UEFA CFM) will begin this September, and is designed for FA staff members wishing to broaden their expertise. This programme has six online modules – distance elearning education – and three seminars at UEFA's House of European Football over a one-year period. Topics covered include various elements of national association management, such as organisation, strategic and performance management, operational management, event management, marketing and sponsorship, and internal and external communication.

The second-level programme is the UEFA Diploma in Football Management (UEFA DFM), which will enable association middle managers or UEFA CFM graduates to specialise in certain areas of an FA's management. The course will commence in September 2011.

Experienced association managers and elected officers will have the opportunity to take the Executive Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO). This course is also open to senior managers from other European, international and national sports federations, clubs and leagues, European institutions and governments, or partners of sports organisations. This unique programme has a European dimension, a multidisciplinary approach and an in-depth analysis of legal, political and economic issues. It will be delivered by renowned academic institutions across Europe, in nine one-week seminars over a 20-month period, starting in the 2010/11 academic year. A MESGO brochure is available, as is information online at mesgo.org.

UEFA is eagerly anticipating the success of the programmes which, it says, will contribute to the development of the management of football in Europe, as well as to the long-term well-being of its associations.