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Poor Uni student here, but if anyone can give me feedback on my assignment on this very topic, I may shout you a beer next time I'm down for a game. It had to be under 550 words and I could only use one source from a news website. Looking at it from a sports management view, here's what I whipped up:
Introduction of Topic
Since Australia transitioned from the Oceania Football Confederation, (OFC) to the Asian Football Confederation, (AFC) debate has sparked among New Zealanders on whether the All Whites should follow suit. This issue contains some important dimensions of sports management, including decision making, strategic and financial management. It is important to discuss this issue, as in recent years New Zealand football seem miles behind both nationally and internationally, on the field, and off.
Critical Reflection
It is crucial to take a stance towards change. Growth and success of New Zealand Football has seemingly stagnated after their rather promising World Cup Campaign in 2010, in comparison to Australia, who are reaching new, and exciting heights. Australia can be easily compared to New Zealand due to similar geographic location, sports management structure, and culture. They have proven wrong the murmurs that a move for New Zealand into the AFC won’t be sustainable, due to the travel costs, and the lack of income from easily qualifying from tournaments such as the Women’s World Cup, the Olympic Games, and the U20 World Cup. Though we may not share the same amount of funding as the Australians, upon a move to Asia, they have qualified for both World Cups, have had an Australian Club win the Asian Champions League, and had played more games in January of 2015, than the All Whites had played throughout that entire year. A move to Asia, assuming they are permitted to do so, would lead to more important fixtures against formidable opponents, leading in to an influx of television revenue, which could provide financial support for New Zealand Football. Tim Brown, the former captain of the All Whites, shares this opinion while being interviewed by Stuff.co.nz, saying, “NZF could do more to invest in the All Whites as their flagship brand. You have to spend a little bit, to make a little bit.” This article also shares NZF’s high performance plan, which strives to aide New Zealand off the pitch by, ‘strengthen[ing] the ties with New Zealand’s trading partners to have a positive effect on our country’s profile and economy.’ Having closer ties to Asian nations may be the country’s best bet of achieving this, which also may result in larger funding from the Government. An increase in fixtures will eventually lead to more attention towards the All Whites, thus growing the sport financially, using this money to grow the ASB Premiership, invest in grassroots football, and professional facilities in the long-term may assist football to grow in New Zealand further more. AFC is where the money is, an example of this is the Chinese Super League signing world-class players such as Ramires and Gervinho. Meanwhile, the OFC is in disarray, they do not have a guaranteed qualifying slot for the World Cup, and there is only one professional club in the confederation, being the Wellington Phoenix from New Zealand. It must only be seen as strategic to jump ships as soon as possible, while there has been some ‘murmurings’ of interest, a solid decision must be made to push for a spot in the Asian Football Confederation.
Reference
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/76187885/Former-All-Whites-captain-Tim-Brown-urges-NZ-Football-to-strive-for-Asian-inclusion, Clay Wilson, Stuff.co.nz, January 24 2016