Digging for Gold in Football - Ali's Words

This week I met a couple of guys who were very eager to do a partnership with TFA-EPC. I had quite a detailed conversation with them about football. Actually, I was quite intrigued to know why they wanted to invest in our Academy; what was their interest in doing so, and how they foresee the partnership. Their answer to my query was that they were looking for a multi-million dollar player.?

It really struck me how many people want to join the football business just so they can launch the next superstar and become millionaires overnight. Football is played in almost all countries around the world and you can find that star player anywhere. But the number of people wanting to invest in this business and thinking they’ll strike gold is astonishing. It reminds one of the old gold miners in the USA.?

Finding the gold player has become a race. People are willing to spend enormous amounts of money and time to hit the jackpot player. Every time someone finds a talented footballer, they think they’ve discovered the 100 million dollar Eygptian football player, Muhammad Salah. They think it's all about finding a star player and putting him up in a shop window; the moment he’s sold you become a millionaire. That’s not how it works, because if it did, everyone in the football world would be a millionaire.

I’ve been in the football business long enough to know that there are processes, teams, and networks needed to get that diamond or gold-level player to its worthy place. Finding a talented player is easy. The challenging part is preparing them, putting them through the right process and the right network, and eventually bringing them up to the top level or top market. It’s a long process and only when you’ve completed it successfully can you get that hundred million or even one million. It’s not something that can be done in a rush through investments or partnerships. It requires a great deal of hard work, commitment, and skill.?