For the good of the game

It’s a question that’s baffled experts for what seems like centuries. No, not ‘what did Shakespeare really look like?’ nor ‘How can God be both one and three?’. This one’s much more pressing: What is the future of South American football? A conference is to be held in Buenos Aires starting on Thursday to look at some possible answers to this and other metaphysical posers.

With the blessings of FIFA and the Centro Internacional de Estudio del Deporte (International Centre for the Study of Sport), the conference will include a number of luminaries from the South American footballing world, including former Chilean great Iván Zamorano and Independiente director Julio Comparada among others. The debates will take in topics such as ‘what is the business model which should be adopted by South American clubs to improve their financial and competitive levels?’, ‘How can South American clubs prevent the exodus of their best young players to Europe?’ and more.

At the risk of sounding like one who’s got all the answers, some professional directors who aren’t doing other jobs and haven’t got their hands in the savings jar might be a start with regards the first question, but even if I weren’t being facetious, it’s obviously not quite that simple (well, perhaps at the root of it, it is). Whether the intricacies and business practices of it all can work in the same way for Latin America as they can for Europe is one thing. But the continent that still produces so many technically adept players has long been in need of better management and structure in its footballing finances, and this might be one small step forwards.

If you’d like some details on the conference – in Spanish - which will be held at the Buenos Aires Hotel Marriot Plaza, click here (but I warn you to be on guard because the first thing you’ll see is Sepp Blatter’s gurning mug).