The ÖFB will subject its academy structure to “a thorough evaluation”. The football association wants to start the implementation from the 2023/24 season onwards.
The ÖFB is working on a new academy structure. This was announced by the football association in a press release on Tuesday. According to the statement, the existing system is to undergo “a thorough evaluation”. The new structure is to be implemented from the 2023/24 season.
“In the course of the structural adjustment, we want to keep the performance parameters for our top talents constantly high, which will not be possible with an increase in the number of participating academies in the ÖFB Youth League,” explained sport director Peter Schöttel.
ÖFB sets condition
Therefore, in the 2022/23 season, applications for a new academy licence will only be allowed if the applicant does not participate in the ÖFB Youth League and does not receive academy funding from ÖFB resources.
Schöttel, however, wants to look at the issue “holistically and sustainably”: “On the other hand, it is absolutely to be supported if clubs want to invest specifically in youth football and strive for academy status, as is happening at the moment. The ÖFB will be looking at this issue very intensively in the coming months together with experts from the Bundesliga, representatives of the regional associations and external experts. “
Two performance levels in future?
There are currently 13 academies in Austria with an official ÖFB licence. They play their championships in three youth leagues (U 18, U 16, U 15) without promotion or relegation. The academies can be owned by the respective provincial associations or individual clubs. If the first division clubs want to avoid penalty payments, they need a licensed academy or a cooperation with one.
This system is now apparently to be revised. According to a report by “Laola1”, a solution with two performance levels at academy level is being worked on. In this way, smaller clubs could also achieve official academy status. The idea of the ÖFB: There should be a permanent competition among the clubs as to who plays in the 1st and who in the 2nd youth league – but detached from results. Criteria for promotion and relegation would be, for example, infrastructure, the number of full-time coaches and trainers with the appropriate licence, and the minutes played by players in the ÖFB youth teams.
