Raising professional standards

According to its strategic plan for 2015–20, one of the objectives of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) is to bring about a lasting improvement in the organisational performance of its members, in particular by enhancing the professional skills of their staff. To that end, the FRF has concluded a partnership agreement with the Bucharest Academy for Economic Studies to organise different educational programmes.

Ad hoc and regular courses are to be organised for club executives, press officers, safety and security officers, team managers and other club officials.

In addition, a master’s in sports management is due to be launched in 2018. This programme will be aimed at club executives, sports federation managers, government representatives, etc. and will be expanded across Europe in the near future. UEFA’s support will play a key role in this project, as will the cooperation and know-how of prestigious schools of sports management in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, all of which are already involved in the trans-European Play the Game project.

An internship and volunteering programme is also to be set up at the Bucharest Academy for Economic Studies, giving students the opportunity to obtain valuable practical experience in the world of football and thereby learn the specifics of football management.

“I am delighted with this agreement with the FRF, which is our first-ever partnership with a sports organisation. From my point of view, the main asset will be the master’s in sports management. We will aim to attract as many specialists as possible, and of course we all want this to be a long-lasting partnership, enabling us to train and educate as many young and successful sports managers as possible,” said Nicolae Istudor, the rector of the academy, at the signing ceremony.

Răzvan Burleanu, the president of the FRF, said: “It’s a proven reality that behind every sporting performance lies a team of officials – a team behind the team. Our aim is to give the best possible training to those officials, who are operating in the players’ shadows. Officials working in football – and sport in general – need to be very competent and have high standards. This is an educational programme for the future.”

This article originally appeared in UEFA Direct No166