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The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association in collaboration with Concacaf will stage a Club Licensing seminar at the Ato Boldon Stadium Press Room on Wednesday September 28th from 2pm.

This is being done  with the aim of establishing standards and enhancing the environment for club football to advance in the country.

The seminar, which will be conducted by Jonathan Martinez, CONCACAF senior manager for club licensing and development, is compulsory for all local Pro League and Super League clubs

The growth of leagues and clubs is directly related to key performance indicators within the areas of infrastructure, sporting, administration, finance, legal and social responsibility. CONCACAF’s club licensing program provides tools aimed at  raising the level of professionalism in league and club management.

The system aims to improve club football by setting minimum standards in key areas such as stadium safety, fan experience and youth football development. Clubs then need to meet these standards to qualify for certain international competitions.

The adaptation of club licensing at confederation and subsequently at member association level is a long-term process in which the objective is to provide essential requirements and minimum standards to further enhance club football competitions. At the end of this process, the benefits for clubs, leagues and member associations are numerous: higher level of club management, better level of home-grown players, higher level of play, increase of fans and revenues, and ultimately, better level of the national team.

Former Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was a  key speaker at the FIFA Club Licensing Seminar for the COSAFA region held in Johannesburg in March.

The seminar is to present FIFA and CAF’s vision of what the future requirements for clubs will be in terms standardised norms across all football around the world.

“It’s vital for the long-term future of the clubs. As an example, I spoke recently with Sir Alex Ferguson and he said when he came into Manchester United, he told his board they must make the club’s academy the foundation for their growth and success, and some 26 years later we all know how successful that was,” Hislop said.

“It affords the players the opportunity to play at the highest level that their talent will take them. It also serves the clubs better in terms of their bottom line.”