Dubai : The transfer of professional footballers will come under the spotlight when the 4th Dubai International Sports Conference is held in the first week of 2010.
The annual conference, held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Executive Council and Dubai Sports Council, will be held from January 2 to 4.
This year the highlight of the conference will be the gathering of some of the top football agents who are expected to land in Dubai for the Fifa Player Agents Forum scheduled on the final day (January 4).
These agents will gather in Dubai to discuss major subjects such as their relationship with clubs and international sports institutions, creating a great opportunity for members of the sports field in UAE clubs to see and study the mechanism worldwide.
Giovanni Branchini, President, Italian Agent Association and Vice-President of the European Football Agents Association (EFAA), has confirmed that he expects at least 70 agents worldwide to land in Dubai for this conference.
Relevant topic
"Hosting such a forum is a first for us and it will surely help in the development of the game as agents play a key role in this process. Player transfers is such a relevant topic today and discussing it will throw more light on where the sport is headed," Branchini stated.
"Agents are always accused of being behind the cost of wages and contracts of players and the impact on the budgets of clubs. But what people do not realise is that most of the clubs make mistakes by signing unfit players which make them lose money so they want someone else to take the blame," Branchini added.
Among other things to be discussed at the forum will be initiatives to improve the level of communication with clubs around the world and register players on websites to give equal opportunities to all clubs to identify and utilise modern technology before signing players.
