By Mark Baber
January 29 – The new joint Belgium-Dutch BeNe league could become a cross border model for the establishment of more competitive and better marketed women’s football leagues in the future.
The marketing of women’s football by national associations was the focal point of a workshop in The Hague, held under the auspices of the UEFA Women’s Football Development Programme.
UEFA’s Women’s Football Development Programme (WFDP) is providing individual assistance to Scotland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Austria in drafting women’s football marketing plans focused on building brand identity and the top national leagues with the goal of increasing attendances and boosting revenue streams.
At the workshop, The Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB/URBSFA) and Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) gave a joint presentation on the establishment of the BeNe league which sees the merger of the two associations’ female top leagues, with the UEFA Executive Committee giving its approval on a three-season trial basis.
The goal is to improve the playing level of the game whilst making the ‘product’ more attractive to fans and potential sponsors.
The president of the KNVB, UEFA Executive Committee member Michael van Praag, opened the workshop, highlighting the importance of women’s football to both national associations, and emphasised the potential and scope of the BeNe league project.
The BeNe trial project will be looked at carefully by Europe’s smaller men’s leagues, which have been struggling to stay afloat in the shadow of big five and whose own projects to merge have so far failed to get off the ground..
Ideas have been floated about a Czech-Slovak league, a Belgium-Netherlands league, a Balkan league, a Swiss-Austrian league and the incorporation of Rangers and Celtic in the English Premier League.
Recently, Sepp Blatter rejected a proposed resurrection of the old Soviet league saying, “It’s impossible. It goes against the principles of FIFA, therefore FIFA would never support such an idea.”
Whilst each plan offers advantages and disadvantages, the formation of the women’s league is a clear precedent and if a way can be found to incorporate Champions League qualification, it would theoretically open the way for the men to follow the women’s lead.
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