The Association of European Professional leagues (EPFL) held on 10 December 2009 a pioneering Workshop on Youth Development. Organised in Cologne in collaboration with the DFL Bundesliga and the German Club 1. FC Köln, the Workshop occurred within the scope of the EPFL Committee on Players’ Transfers and Players’ Agents and followed the recent study on Protection of Young Players and Training Clubs and the relevant launch of the EPFL Recommendation on Recruitment, Training, Education and Protection of Young Players.
The initiative was primarily aimed to promote best practice on recruitment, training and education of young football players, as well as the protection under aged players in the international football context.
The Workshop, chaired by the DFL Bundesliga COO, Holger Hieronymus, was attended by several EPFL Leagues’ representatives, Club and Youth Academies directors as well as UEFA representative, who presented the Youth Development Criteria included in the UEFA Club Licensing System. During the meeting, executives from the Brussels based agency Double PASS had the opportunity to present the certification criteria of Football Academies applied within the DFL Bundesliga Clubs.
The workshop was followed by a detailed field visit to the Köln FC Training Academy, during which participants have been able to learn and get in direct contact with the highest standards practiced in this field, in Germany.
At the end of the intense working day, the EPFL CEO, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, assured that the EPFL will continue working in this direction, organising other similar practical initiatives to promote the vital role of youth academies and diffuse best practice on recruitment, training and education of young football players among European Leagues and Clubs.
