Management and administration workshop for women's clubs: The keys to good governance

The development of women's football is one of the cardinal programs of the Confederation of African Football.

On the sidelines of the CAF Women's Champions League which takes place from October 30 to November 13 in Morocco, CAF in collaboration with FIFA, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the National League of Moroccan Women's Football, organized this Monday at the Mohammed VI complex in Rabat, a management and administration workshop for women's football clubs.

“The idea is to exchange with club presidents, general secretaries and administrative managers, to try to give them tools that can help them develop their clubs in terms of governance, marketing, sponsorship and communication," said Raul Chipenda, director of development at CAF.

Before adding that: “The goal is to lead clubs to be more independent. We are lucky to have FIFA also at this workshop. Its representatives presented clear projects to help the clubs to be more professional and I am sure that we are on the right path. The development of football depends on structured and better equipped clubs. If we succeed in instilling in them the basics of professionalism, of course we will have a different women's game on the continent."

Meskerem Tadesse Goshime, Head of the Women's Football Development Department at CAF also recalled the importance of this type of event to help clubs have a better structure, recalling that it "also allows clubs to identify the best way to attract sponsors and consolidate their relationship with CAF and FIFA."

Goshime praised the efforts of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the National Women's Football League in Morocco for the development of women's football in the country, by requiring clubs to have a women's section. An approach that accompanies the decision of CAF to establish a club licensing system which requires for any club participating in CAF interclubs, the creation of a women's section.

Representatives of 14 Moroccan clubs were present to learn the tricks of good management. Among them, those of the Sporting Club of Casablanca, a first division team in the Moroccan championship. At the end of this meeting, its vice-president Nawal El Aidaoui praised the efforts made by CAF for the development of women's football.

“It was very interesting and very instructive. This is the kind of workshop that clubs can benefit from to understand a little more about the international environment in which they operate, as well as management issues."

El Aidaoui also returned to the presentation by the FIFA representatives: "It is therefore very interesting to see what CAF is doing at the continental level, all the efforts made for professionalization and it is also very interesting to benchmark against other countries on the continent.

"Moreover, what FIFA presented today encourages us since we realized, as Moroccan clubs and women's league in Morocco, that we are not very far from the leagues of other countries. We are very well placed on the African continent and it is very encouraging to seek international competitions, to have ambition and an openness to the international."

Several aspects were discussed during this workshop concerning the development and professionalization of women's football: club licensing, player contracts, duties of clubs and players, specificities of the women's body, importance of communication."

Fatou Binetou Ba, CAF Consultant and Deputy General Director of Génération Foot, recounts the importance for clubs to update themselves at the level of club management but also all aspects related to women's football.

“It is essential to understand the business aspects of football and to have the keys to attracting the various stakeholders. We must therefore multiply initiatives such as this.”

She also gave during her presentation what is the key for the successful development of women's football in Africa.

"The biggest asset of a club and of a company in general is its staff. They have to be on board with the club's vision, feel involved, feel as though you've invested with a mission. Solving the problems of governance and leadership amounts to solving half the problem. Everything else stems from the will of the team that has been put in place to achieve the objectives set.”

Women's Clubs Management and Administration Workshop - WCL 2022