CBF youth working group meets for first time, huge turnout | OneFootball

On Monday (27), the CBF held the first meeting of the Brazilian Youth Development Working Group, an event that filled the organization’s auditorium in Rio de Janeiro, with the presence of club executives, as well as representatives from the CBF and state federations. Head coach Carlo Ancelotti attended the meeting alongside CBF president Samir Xaud.

The Working Group’s kickoff was marked by discussions and proposals to improve youth development in Brazilian football. Considered strategic for the future, the initiative adds to the organization’s efforts to urgently modernize Brazilian football, following the restructuring of the men’s and women’s calendars, the launch of the Financial Fair Play model, and the professionalization of refereeing.

“Youth football is another extremely important pillar of our management. That is where our stars come from. The CBF has been creating specific working groups for each sector, and now it is youth development’s turn. I am very happy to have appointed our president Felipe Silva to coordinate this Working Group together with Hélder Melillo. With this measure, the CBF recognizes the importance of the entire Brazilian youth football ecosystem. Today reflects this new management model, with the certainty that we will leave a very positive legacy for youth development in Brazil,” said president Samir Xaud at the opening of the meeting.

Samir Xaud, Ancelotti and Cris Gambaré took part in the opening of the Youth Development Working GroupCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

Also warmly applauded, Brazil national team head coach Carlo Ancelotti highlighted the CBF’s new initiative.

“This is a very important project for the development of young Brazilians. The history of football shows that this country has always had great footballers, players with talent and great creativity. It is a country with a strong sporting and football tradition. But talent cannot be created. This project was born not to create talent, but to educate talent. Investing in development is investing in Brazilian football. We want to build not strong legs, but strong minds,” said Ancelotti.

The goal of the Working Group is, through meetings like the one held this Monday, to draw up proposals to improve the player development model for boys and girls in all regions of the country, aligning it with international guidelines, with legislative and institutional suggestions aimed at protecting athlete development, the sustainability of training clubs, and the integrity of the development process.

Felipe Silva, president of the Youth Development Working GroupCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

“The Youth Development Working Group aims to regulate the football calendar so that developing athletes are not harmed in their activities, to ensure that women’s football is structured and strengthened, to regulate football agents, among other benefits. Everything is geared toward protecting our main asset, which is the athlete, especially the young athlete,” said Felipe Silva, acting president of the Rio Grande do Norte Football Federation and president of the Youth Development Working Group.

As happened with the Refereeing and Financial Fair Play Working Groups, the CBF will lead this working group collectively. It will include representatives from the organization itself and from state federations, clubs competing in men’s and women’s youth competitions, experts in sports development and education, and independent technical consultants.

The Working Group received nationwide support and will be made up of one hundred professionals, including specialists and invited former players, representatives of clubs, federations, the CBF Academy, and members of the CBF itself.

“One of the priorities of the CBF’s new leadership is to tackle the structural problems of Brazilian football through dialogue. So, this Monday, we had the inaugural meeting of the Working Group, the Youth Development Working Group, our third major working group. We hope that through this work, the CBF will be able to move forward and develop and retain more players, in addition to improving our calendar. In short, we have a set of actions that we expect to deepen and advance over the coming months,” said executive management director Helder Melillo.

Cris Gambaré at the Youth Development Working Group meetingCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

The Youth Development Working Group is also guided by the goal of promoting Brazilian women’s football in the same way. For CBF Women’s National Teams technical coordinator Cris Gambaré, the Working Group has everything it needs to boost the sport across the country.

“It is a great honor to be taking part in this first meeting. I can see how important it is for clubs to send their representatives here to be part of this structure, how important it is for us to align the entire construction of the youth categories so that in the future we can truly have these athletes performing at a high level, in the way we have always liked to see Brazilian football played and well organized. We are facing a great opportunity. May clubs now be guided to implement youth categories nationwide, may the states foster their competitions, and may we always do more so that this category grows and keeps evolving,” said Cris Gambaré.

World champion in 1994, Branco, coordinator of the CBF’s men’s youth football, also emphasized the major step taken by the CBF.

“I would like to congratulate president Samir Xaud, Helder Melillo, and the entire working group formed for this unique moment. Whether on or off the field, we obviously need to talk about the future. Football has evolved a lot, we have our essence, our qualities, and today there are many tools, but the most important thing is the athlete. We have to take good care of the athlete in development, including the mental and educational aspects. Naturally, a meeting like the one that began this Monday is a spectacular milestone for the future of Brazilian football. Everyone here has the privilege and honor of taking part in a story that will certainly be beautiful in the future,” he said.

Branco praised the CBF initiativeCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

The discussions, which began this Monday, are guided by the following thematic axes: competition calendars and compatibility with the school calendar; certification and governance of training clubs; the regulatory environment applicable to youth categories; national guidelines for the development of young talents; and the development of youth categories in women’s football. The final proposal must be submitted to the CBF Presidency within 90 days from the date of the first meeting, with the possibility of an extension due to the World Cup period.

This Monday, after the opening by president Samir Xaud and the presentation of the Working Group’s activities and goals by Felipe Silva, Branco, Cris Gambaré, and CBF Academy director Tiago Pereira, the event featured four panels covering different topics. To address policies and best practices for the development of youth categories, the discussion included João Paulo Medina, co-owner of Universidade do Futebol, Tomaz Morais, Development Director responsible for the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy, Paulo André, former football player, and Inês Caetano, Guest Assistant Professor at Nova SBE and Sports Embassy administrator.

Ricardo Gluck and Edmilson, 2002 world championCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

In the afternoon, under the theme of youth competition calendars: challenges and best practices, the audience’s attention was shared by former world champion Edmilson, alongside CBF Competitions Director Julio Avellar, Competitions Manager Aline Pellegrino, president of the Pará Football Federation and CBF vice-president Ricardo Gluck, and Luis Branco, Scouting and Market Expert at Sporting Lisbon (Portugal).

Bruno Costa and Matheus Senna at the first Youth Development Working Group meetingCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

Next, the panel on opportunities and challenges for training clubs featured Bruno Costa, director of the CBF’s International Offices, Matheus Senna, CBF director of Development and Projects, Oscar Tojo, national technical director of the Portuguese Football Federation, Marcelo Lima, CEO of Desportivo Brasil, and Luiz Carlos, general manager of Atlético-MG’s Youth Categories.

Finally, to speak about the regulatory environment surrounding the work of football agents, CBF legal director André Mattos and CBF Academy director Tiago Pereira took the stage.

André Mattos spoke on the final panel of the meeting Credits: Nelson Terme / CBF

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.