Kazakhstan gets closer to football family

Well attended
Over two days in April, UEFA's newest member staged an 'administration progress' course at its headquarters in Almaty. Pertti Alaja from Finland was the lecturer for the programme, which was attended by participants from the country's 16 regional federation as well as those from the national association.

History lesson
The course began with a brief overview of the history of football and of today's situation in the world game. Alaja then gave an idea of what the administrative structure of an association, either at regional or national level, and a club could look like. This was followed by an introduction to the different aspects of sports marketing.

Fruitful discussion
The second day started with a practical work session, with the participants broken up into groups where they had to devise a sponsorship package. These were later analysed, providing a fruitful discussion into the results. Alaja concluded the course with a lesson about TV rights, board advertising and media. Not surprisingly many of the participants had little idea about the rights they had as club representatives and were left more than happy by the enlightening nature of the course.

More to come
UEFA's Assistance Programmes department will organise three more 'progress' courses in Kazakhstan. These will include courses for medical staff, for referees and for youth coaches.