Liberia Football Association (LFA) President, Mustapha Raji, has described the Club Licensing Regulations (CLRs) as a mechanism intended to professionalize football and not to witch-hunt clubs in different leagues.
Raji explained that the CLRs, which were given to member clubs and associations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to implement the minimum requirements, are intended to help develop football and improve the performances of clubs and national teams across the continent.
The LFA president made the remarks at the start of a two-day CAF Club Licensing Online Platform (CAF CLOP) workshop, held at the LFA headquarters in Swankamore community on December 14, 2023.
“It is an exciting moment for me to welcome a team from CAF to pave the way for the improvement and development of football in Liberia through the CAF CLOP.
“I am excited that we will be launching this platform for the 2024/2025 season. We have an obligation as a member that we will be sanctioned by CAF if we do not do the right things.
“The club licensing regulations are in no way intended to witch hunt any club perceived to be our critics. It is simply intended to professionalize football,” said Raji, who officially declared the workshop open.
CAF Club Licensing Instructor, Emmanuel Dasoberi of Ghana, thanked the LFA for welcoming his team to Liberia.
“This is the sixth country we have visited to show you how to use the CAF CLOP. We have not just come to teach you. We want an interactive session. We have come to share knowledge and so we want you to participate,” said Dasoberi.
The workshop will train club licensing officers about the CAF CLOP, which will be used to register all teams beginning the 2024/2025 season, for domestic and continental competitions.
Dasoberi; CAF CLOP officer, Hamza Sorouri Morocco, and CAF CLOP instructor, Francis Adu of Ghana, facilitated the sessions.
CAF successfully implemented the mandatory CLRs for the TotalEnergies Champions League and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for the 2023/2024 season through the FAs licensor.
The issuance of a license to a club signifies that it has fulfilled the requirements outlined in the CAF CLRs.
The FA acts as the licensor that evaluates each club based on five criteria: sporting, infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal, and financial.
