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Dubai: The UAE has to target talent at the grassroots level to get the most out of professionalism, according to a Fifa-accredited agent.
Jassem Al Sayed, the Managing Director of Stallion Goal Football Management, told Gulf News the UAE Football Association needed to bring in experts to create a proper coaching set up from schools upward.
He said: "The authorities need to start at the school level, train the youngsters in a professional manner and then concentrate on the youth development.
"They need to bring in the technical advisors to plan, to analyse and to structure the football schools and academies all over the UAE."
Starting this season, the UAE Football Association has implementing a professional football league that will consist of 27 teams with 12 in the elite Premier Division and the remaining 15 in the First Division.
Al Sayed, whose firm has 87 professional players in various countries on its books, said: "There is plenty of talent, interest and money here.
"Now, we only need to bring these aspects together and work towards the development of the sport in the country."
Changing attitudes
He added officials also need to alter the attitudes of players and everyone else within the sport.
"The change-over from being semi-professional to professional is slow because the club authorities think the UAE players will become full professionals by merely signing a contract.
"This thinking has to change. There has to be more openness, availability and accountability on the part of the club officials.
"They also need to be fully professional," said Al Sayed.
Stallion Goal's managing director played for Dubai's Al Nasr Club before moving to Germany to pursue a degree in Physical Education at Cologne University and a Masters in the commercial laws of sport from Munich University.
Al Sayed said football in the UAE needed to look toward Europe.
He added: "We have fantastic infrastructure here, so all we need to do is to go ahead and work on a model based on the European system."
The UAE FA, led by Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, has made the right start, according to Al Sayed.
Foreign players rule
He said one of the main improvements in UAE soccer this year is the allowance of five foreign professionals at the clubs.
"But we still need the locally bred players to compete with these foreign professionals and make a name for themselves.
"And to achieve this we need to start building on our younger players so that they can be prepared to step in as complete professionals.
"The spectators too need to change their perspective from now on. They need to come to the ground and cheer for their teams."
The new season will kick off with the Super Cup on September 14 and the league will commence from September 19.
New rules
- The new UAE professional league has brought a number of new regulations with it. These include:
- There will be 27 professional clubs with 12 in the Premier Division and 15 in the First Division.
- Each club will be allowed to sign five foreign professionals. Three may be named in the first team squad and the other two in the reserve side but registered with the main team.
- There will be two windows for foreign players to be signed. These will run from June 18 till September 10 followed by January 15 till February 11.
- Each club will have to be registered with the UAE Government and will function as a PLC with its own board of directors and a professional administrative staff.
- The Ministry of Justice has issued the laws for the clubs to go public.
- The General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare must implement these laws.
Top talent: Foreign destination
When Dubai first started on the path of professional football in 1998 few players were interested.
But things have changed with more and more players choosing to ply their trade in the UAE.
"We found it extremely difficult to convince players to come and play in Dubai," said Fifa agent Jassem Al Sayed .
"But this is no longer the case after 10 years."
He added at the moment, his firm was pursuing deals with at least two players from Manchester United who are keen to come and play here.
"That's 'Brand Dubai' for you," said Al Sayed.
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