Central Asia - Japan U-16 Football Exchange Programme has been held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 29 February to 5 March. This is a part of the international contribution programmes led by Japanese government body called “SPORT FOR TOMORROW”.

In this programme, each participating country’s football association had to bring one staff member who is in charge of marketing. On 3 March, the marketing staff participants from the football associations, the Uzbek football clubs which belong to Uzbekistan Professional Football League and the other staff of the Uzbekistan Football Federation were invited to this seminar which was organised by the Japan Football Association (JFA). At the beginning, Mr. TAMARU from Japan Sport Council made a presentation about activities of “SPORT FOR TOMORROW”, and then a JFA’s marketing staff member gave another presentation about the following topics: JFA and J. League marketing strategy, the sponsorship system, and how to obtain a future sponsor and to sell broadcasting rights.

At the end of the seminar, the participants were divided into 4 groups to have a workshop. In these group sessions, a lot of questions were raised to be discussed. All of the participants looked highly motivated to contribute to the development of football of their clubs and countries. 

Meanwhile, players and other staff of each team had a chance to relax on their 3rd day of the programme, and enjoyed sightseeing and shopping. It was only for a short time, but they looked very relaxed. 

4 March, it was the last day of the programme’s matches to decide their rankings at JAR Main Stadium, and all teams played intensively with pride. After hard games, U-16 Japan National team successfully got the title. 

After the match, both Japanese and Uzbek players had chance to communicate with each other by taking photos, and the second Central Asia - Japan U-16 Football Exchange Programme was closed. 

Comments

Dlimkhodjaev Timur, Coach (U-16 Uzbekistan National Team)
Japan played with a higher quality than us and they took complete control of the match. This programme is very beneficial for our team, and I hope that this will be held continuously in the future, as a good symbol of good cooperation between JFA and every football associations of each central Asian countries. I would like to express my gratitude to Japan Sport Council and JFA.

Muydinov Abubakir, Captain (U-16 Uzbekistan National Team)
I am disappointed that we lost the match against Japan today. I will keep working hard to improve the level as a team and as an individual player for the future when we can play against Japan again someday. Joining in this competition gave us such a good experience. I had a lot to learn and it was definitely a meaningful time. I will keep making effort to win the title next time. 

Sherzod Igamberdiev, Leader of this programme (Uzbekistan Football Federation)
I worked as an interpreter at the JFA marketing seminar, and we have got very beneficial information and knowledge for the Uzbekistan Football Federation. Understanding about how Japanese sports marketing has developed helped us to think about what we have to do to promote marketing for the future of Uzbekistan’s football. I deeply appreciate the JFA’s lecturer for responding to every question from the participants with advice. I hope that we will realize what we have learned today and both of the federation and Uzbek club teams can gain financial income through getting new sponsors; that will encourage the development of football in Uzbekistan.