The UAE Pro League concluded on Thursday, September 17, its four-day strategic retreat benchmarking sessions held with Japan’s J-League, Sweden’s Allsvenskan, Spain’s La Liga and the English Football League.
The retreat, which comes as part of the roadmap of the Pro League’s 2020-2030 strategic plan, focused on exploring best practices and identifying areas where experiences can be exchanged to strengthen the Pro League’s ability to build strategic initiatives that align with the international level and raise levels of global competitiveness.
Waleed Al Hosani, UAE Pro League CEO, expressed his delight with the outcome of the retreat and his appreciation for the participating leagues that collaborated by sharing their experiences and enriching the conversation, saying: “I would like to thank the international leagues that participated in this strategic retreat, which is considered to be an integral part of our planning for the 2020-2030 strategy.”
“The retreat provided a platform for a fruitful exchange of insights and knowledge between the participating leagues and allowed us to learn about the similar challenges and how to tackle them and contributed to providing a clearer direction moving forward,” Al Hosani added.
Takeyuki Oya from J-League’s Global Business Department, who discussed the J-League’s strategy and challenges in the first session, praised the UAE Pro League’s development efforts and said: “The J-League works closely with other leagues throughout Asia and the rest of the world to exchange best practice knowledge.”
“We were very happy to be invited by the UAE Pro League to participate in their benchmarking sessions as a leading Asian league. The discussions showed that the Pro League is working hard to challenge the J-League in the future, and we wish them the very best with their new strategy,”Oya explained.
Mats Enquist, Svensk Elitfotboll CEO, echoed Oya’s thoughts and pointed out the similar challenges faced by the Allsvenskan and the UAE Pro League.
Enquist explained, “we have been interacting with the UAE Pro League since earlier in 2020 and can see the enthusiasm and determination for success that exists in the organization.”
“I was excited to be invited to participate in the Benchmarking Sessions as part of the development of the leagues’ strategy. There are many similar challenges and opportunities between the Allsvenskan and UAE Pro League. This become very clear during the session and I hope that the shared experiences of the Allsvenskan will now assist the Pro League in achieving great success in the coming years,” Enquist added.
MAITE VENTURA: LALIGA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH UAE PRO LEAGUE IS NOW WELL ESTABLISHED
— Arabian ↔️ Gulf ↔️ League (@AGLeague_EN) September 20, 2020
Read More: https://t.co/WlsbOyiNy4@LaLigaEN pic.twitter.com/U8TWekJyzr
Subsequently, LaLiga’s Managing Director in the MENA region Maite Ventura, who spoke in the third session about the league’s strategy and the relationship between the league and the clubs, lauded the Pro League’s 2020-2030 strategic plan and expressed her delight with participation in the benchmarking sessions, saying: “LaLiga’s relationship with the UAE Pro League is now well established and it was an honour for us to be invited to participate in the benchmarking sessions.
“We were able to share a range of knowledge on how LaLiga has become the world’s most popular league in recent years, highlighting both the successes and challenges that were overcome in achieving this. Without any doubt, the Pro League’s new strategic plan will provide the league and its stakeholders a clear direction towards greater success, and we look forward to continuing to support the Pro League with their efforts,” Ventura added.
Additionally, CEO of the English Football League David Baldwin also highlighted the value of the sessions and the importance of knowledge exchange and said: “The EFL has faced many varied challenges in its recent past and we understand that our experiences may prove useful to other leagues who are keen to gain any intelligence into how we have tackled and addressed those issues.”
“Supporting the UAE Pro League on their new strategic plan through an information sharing session will allow us to provide insight that will hopefully prove valuable as they work closely with their clubs and other stakeholders to reach new heights for UAE football.”
The UAE Pro League is scheduled to hold another session with the English Football League on September 27, which will see the participation of Director of the Youth Development Sector at the English Football League, David Wetherall, who will discuss technical issues related to the league.
