Portuguese Football Federation

POR

Developing football in Portugal

National associations

Developing football in Portugal

Article summary

It has been a golden period for the Portuguese Football Federation, but the country has ambitious goals to ensure the legacy of recent success is built upon.

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Overview

Before the pandemic, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) was looking to increase the number of footballers across the nation to 300,000 by 2024 – almost double the 2012 figure.

However, the events of 2020/21 have caused this goal to be postponed. The federation's number one priority is to create the conditions to restore this objective as soon as possible – and it has produced ten action points to that end:

1. Ensure the sustainability of the FPF as a base for building Portuguese football;

2. Ensure the sustainability of FPF members, who are responsible for the normal functioning of Portuguese professional and district football;

3. Safeguard football, futsal and beach soccer teams, at all levels;

4. Maintain the FPF's close connection with international football bodies, namely UEFA and FIFA, where structural decisions will be taken in the coming years that will greatly influence European and world football;

5. Design financially sustainable support programmes for the clubs participating in FPF competitions;

6. Restructure competitive frameworks and adapt the club certification model accordingly;

7. Elevate skills through the Portugal football school;

8. Adjust registration fees, transfers and fines in the most affected competitions;

9. Create a programme to encourage best practice training;

10. Make Channel 11 the flagship instrument to achieve participation.

"The FPF's work does not stop with football on the pitch. We also seek to promote a more just and inclusive society."

Fernando Gomes, Portuguese Football Federation president

UEFA support

UEFA's HatTrick programme, which channels EURO funds into football development across Europe, has helped the FPF create and develop Channel 11, Europe's first TV channel from a football association, focusing on youth football and women's competitions.

The channel promotes Portuguese football through more than 600 live match broadcasts, with exclusive content and interviews with world-famous Portuguese players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, João Felix and many others. In addition, the output has a strong social responsibility element and promotes inclusion, diversity and accessibility.

The emphasis is to "promote, protect and develop football", according to the FPF president, Fernando Gomes, with the promotion of women's, futsal, youth and non-professional leagues a big part of the channel's remit.

Channel 11 is based in a dedicated building at the state-of-the-art FPF Cidade do Futebol (City of Football) premises, which opened in March 2016. The complex, which was funded in part byUEFA's HatTrick programme, also houses the FPF's headquarters and technical centre.

Channel 11 objectives

Broadcast 24/7
Show men's and women's youth national team matches, women's club football and domestic cup matches
Generate online editorial content
Allow the FPF to provide an alternative to local sports broadcasters
Promote different content angles: debate, discussion, training and education.

UEFA Foundation for Children in Portugal

Set up in 2015, the UEFA Foundation uses football as a vehicle to help improve children's lives by supporting hundreds of campaigns and projects across Europe and around the world.

Street Football Move

Traditionally, for many children growing up in Portugal – both in rurally and in cities – playing football in the street has been their introduction into the game and where their passion for it is first ignited. However, a variety of factors has reduced this pathway and Street Football Move was launched to reinvigorate its popularity.

The project takes street football in a van to the children of 12 municipalities in the Bragança district in the northeast of Portugal (a total of 4 cities, 12 small towns and 533 villages). The branded van contains equipment including small goals, balls, markers, roll-ups and T-shirts for the players and a sound system.

The main goal of the project is to give children in the region better access to sport, to get them to move more, to be more active, to have more fun, to develop better social skills and to prevent health problems. It is a great way of promoting physical activity, promoting football and helping in children's education using sport as a tool. It hopes to reach 10,000 participants under the age of 15.