Club Licensing: Rondelli in Madrid for the UEFA Exchange Programme

A new edition of the UEFA Club Licensing Exchange Programme was held last week in Madrid. Representatives of UEFA’s European member associations, together with counterparts from CONCACAF, took part in the workshop staged in the Spanish capital. Experts from Barbados, Belize, Canada, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, San Marino, Spain, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago exchanged views on the current and future implementation of club licensing principles in different football environments.

Among the in-depth case studies were those of Spain and the Dominican Republic – focusing respectively on the federation’s growth strategy in women’s football, and on how the Club Licensing system supports the league’s professionalisation process. A third presentation, centred on how Club Licensing can act as a lever to raise standards within a small national association, was dedicated to San Marino.

Paolo Rondelli – Licensing Manager of the FSGC – outlined the system for redistributing the funds received from UEFA for participation in club competitions, and the progress achieved in youth football, women’s football and solidarity projects made possible through involvement in Club Licensing and the related revenues. He then highlighted the recent on-field results obtained by Virtus, which reached the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs, and by the San Marino national team, which earned promotion in the UEFA Nations League. UEFA specifically invited Rondelli to speak in order to show CONCACAF member associations how even a small member association can play an integral and proactive role in promoting the development of football across the continent, as both an instrument of education and social cohesion as well as through results on the pitch.