The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has set out minimum criteria for the Goa Pro League clubs to follow in order to blossom from a football team into a fully fledged club set up.

 The regulations were spelt out by AFC development officer Yogesh Dessai recently at a special workshop for clubs and administrators in Panjim.

The six categories which are included in the AFC dossier include, legal, structure and administration, financial, infrastructure, sporting and club identity.

Under the benchmark proposal, the clubs will have to become legal entities, either under the companies act or Registrar of Co-operatives Societies Act and this will need to be verified by the Goa Football Association (GFA).

The clubs will be needed to employ administrative staff to handle the running of the club such as negotiating contracts with players, coaches and officials. Marketing of the club is also vital in order to bring in sponsors and sell merchandise.

The new recommendations can be implemented or even upgraded by the GFA with the approval of the AFC. The standards have been defined with the purpose of promoting and continuously improving amateur football in Asia.