EUROPEAN SCOUTS HAIL '60 MINUTES' CAMPAIGN

European scouts hunting for talent in the ongoing AFC U-22 Championship are impressed by AFC’s efforts to increase the actual playing time in its matches through this year’s ‘60 Minutes. Don’t Delay. Play!' campaign.

The campaign is in full swing in AFC’s first major championship of the year being played at three different stadiums in Omani capital Muscat.

“This is a very innovative idea as everyone wants to see much action and pace in football matches,” said Maurizio Morana, a football agent working with European and Asian clubs. 

“At the same time this campaign needs massive support from the coaches and officials because when you have a very competitive tournament, everyone wants to win by any means so it’s challenging for everyone to increase the playing time in the field,” he added.

Radu Baicu, an international scout affiliated with Monaco, simply terms the project as ‘bold and challenging’.

“If AFC is successful in achieving the target, it will be a huge boost to Asian football as it enhances the value of the game but it is a bold and challenging project.

“The important person in this project is the referees as they need to play a major part to discourage time wasting and keep the pace of the game intact. Some good referees can always influence the mentality of the players so they are the key to the successful output,” he added.

Matteo Tognozzi, who has been scouting talent in AFC’s centralised competition for the first time for Russian giants Zenith Saint Petersburg, reveals the practical difficulty the players and coaches may face with increased playing time.

“If you see from the angle of coaches and players, they need to play every alternate day mainly in the centralised competition,” he said.

“And you have coaches who keep this time wasting activities as their strategy so education for all the related stakeholders is very important,” he added.

AFC has organised an educational seminar for the referees and officials and will keep on educating the related stakeholders during this ’60 Minutes’ campaign which officially started with the ongoing AFC U-22 Championship and will culminate with next year’s AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.