Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Youth Panel concluded its third meeting in the capital of Malaysia on Thursday.
The panel - which is overseen by the AFC Technical Committee and AFC General Secretary - is tasked with supporting the promotion and development of Elite Youth Football in Asia as well as designing and implementing the AFC Youth Academy Endorsement Scheme.
AFC Technical Director Andy Roxburgh, who led the panel, said: “The aim of this panel is to develop youth elite players, both boys and girls. This specialist panel has the task of encouraging and developing youth players, in cooperation with AFC Member Associations (MAs).”
Though still in the conceptualisation phase, the Youth Academy Endorsement Scheme will present the MAs with three progressive categories - basic (one-star), advanced (two-stars) and premier (three-stars) levels. In total, some 20 performance categories have been identified such as staffing, finance, facilities, coaching and psychology.
Taking into consideration the Asian context, the task force deliberated on the minimum requirements and have identified the benchmark level for the youth academies.
The regulation and the specific criteria for the Youth Academy Scheme are set to be completed by the end of 2017. The future of Asian football will depend on the quality of players produced and the Youth Scheme is part of AFC’s Mission and Vision in collaboration with its MAs.
Photo: AFC