The World Leagues Forum (WLF), hosted by the UAE Pro League, kicked off its activities on Tuesday with the participation of an elite group of representatives of the world's largest professional leagues as well as international organizations.
A series of closed workshops were held ahead of the main session of the WLF, which took place at the Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City Hotel in Dubai.
The workshops probed the future of football in the technological field, including all kinds of digital currencies, “blockchain” and technological projects that boost fans' connection with clubs and leagues around the world.
The launch of the forum's activities was attended by UAE Pro League chairman His Excellency Abdulla Naser Al Jneibi, and the representative of 35 leagues, as well as, prominent directors from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the European Club Association, the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO), the International Football Association Board "IFAB" and the International Labor Organization "ILO."
President of Liga MX and WLF Enrique Bonilla delivered the opening speech of the workshop, in which he thanked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in general, and the UAE Pro League in particular, for the great organization of the forum.
"This meeting is a gateway to exchange the success stories and discuss the challenges and future steps that we will take for football," he said.
"The participation of 35 leagues around the world reflects the great concern for the importance of this forum," Bonilla stressed.
He added, "Choosing Dubai to host this forum has allowed many guests and decision-makers to come and participate in this annual meetings and workshops, in which we share very important ideas and proposals."
"I once again thank the UAE Pro League's staff for the great efforts they made to make the event a success,” he noted.
During today's workshop, the attendees reviewed the future of football from the technological side, which is related to digital money and areas of technological development and keeping pace with the great steps surrounding the work of clubs and leagues.
The workshop was addressed by Mark Abbott, Deputy Commissioner of the Major League Soccer (MLS), Miguel Angel, CEO of LaLiga Tech, the company responsible for digital transformation at the Spanish League, and French economist Philippe Fevrier, who works as a manager and consultant in many financial market companies.
On his part, Fevrier said that the high volume of technological business related to digital money makes it a realistic matter in the long run, but we need to evolve with it by taking the appropriate steps.
As for Miguel Angel, he stressed the importance of "Web 3" technology - the third evolution of the Internet - that aims to obtain the necessary data for fans, communicate with them, and build long-term work rules, as the crowds have a desire to actively interact as long as there is an appropriate interaction initiative for them using modern technological methods.
He added that many projects have been launched for the use of metaverse, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), etc. in football.
Miguel said: "In La Liga, we have found that technology is one of the most important reasons for the sport's success, and we focused on the need to apply the latest technology in our organization. Therefore, we created La Liga Tech, which provides its services not only for football, but for many other sports sectors, and currently, we are taking steps to integrate the present with the future.”
Meanwhile, Mark Abbott, Deputy Commissioner of the Major League Soccer (MLS), explained that the US League Soccer seeks primarily to attract more fans and to expand its activities using the latest technological means, whether blockchain or Web 3 technology.
He pointed out that the accompanying development of the MLS made it necessary to launch a new minor league entitled Next Pro, which aims to expand and develop the Major League, which currently includes 21 clubs and is expected to reach 40-50 clubs soon.
The first-day activities of the Forum witnessed the holding of the "Laws of the Game: Current and Future Development" workshop, which was attended by Lukas Brud, Secretary General of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), and David Elleray, Technical Director of the IFAP.
Send feedback
