The term ‘development’ comes from the European model of development philosophy following the success of the English National School and academies in 1998. A charter for quality throughout the United Kingdom, Holland and Germany emerged with a blueprint for football development. Development programmes, academies and centres of excellence have emerged as 21st century alternatives to the frustrating shortfalls in football development. This void was also due to lack of coaching quality, compromised high-performance pathways and the pressure to win at critical junctures of the development process. The programmes in Europe, Asia and Australia now embrace the idea of individual fundamental development while also creating a more relaxed environment that highlights the key priorities of teaching and learning to players and coaches.

Our goal with the elite player development programme and at the academies is to produce male and female graduates who are world-class in their technical ability on the field and behaviour off the field even by global standards. These graduates will be trained on a solid professional foundation, hence academies and development of young players are both part of the federation’s 4-year development plan. The academies will consist of U12, U14, U16, U19 male age groups and U12, U14, U16, U19 female age groups.