Thursday 23 August 2018, 07:11

Diego Milito kicks off discussion on the future of club licensing in South America

  • ​Diego Milito kicked off FIFA’s third Professional Football Conference in South America

  • Discussed experience as a member of AFA’s Club Licensing First Instance Body

  • Conference enabled South American MAs to discuss next steps for club football professionalisation

Racing Club Sporting Director and Inter Milan legend Diego Milito kicked off FIFA’s third Professional Football Conference in South America by discussing his experience as a former member of the AFA’s club licensing first-instance body as well as his views on club licensing.

The two-day conference, organised by FIFA in collaboration with CONMEBOL, took place in Buenos Aires on 14-15 July and brought together representatives of South America’s ten member associations as well as guest speakers from the AFC, LaLiga, Liga MX, UEFA and Club Universidad de Chile.

During the event, participants discussed the impact, progress made and lessons learned since the implementation of the CONMEBOL club licensing system in 2016. Having played an important role in the process, Milito commented: “The implementation of club licensing in South America is a great project. I think that this is the path to follow. We can’t change everything from one day to another, but we have chosen the right track. As a former member of the AFA’s first-instance body, I played my small part in this project, which in my opinion is the future.”


The aim of the conference was to provide a platform for South American member associations to discuss the next steps for the professionalisation of club football in the region.

The further development of specific club licensing criteria to ensure the long-term sustainability of club football in the region was one of the main topics discussed at the event. Philippe Rasmussen (Head of Financial Fair Play at UEFA), Mahajan Nair (Head of Club Licensing at the AFC) and Jose Guerra (Director of Corporate Operations at LaLiga) shared their experiences and views in this regard.

In addition, participants also discussed the professionalisation of women’s club football in South America. Liga MX President Enrique Bonilla presented, among other topics, the success story of the Liga MX Femenil and Tatiana Perez, Head of Youth Football Administration at Club Universidad de Chile, shared a detailed example of the integration of women’s football teams within the structures of a major South American club.

The global implementation of club licensing systems is a project managed by FIFA’s Professional Football Department.