Kuala Lumpur: The importance of data building and management has taken greater significance across the globe in recent years and the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) determination to embrace the importance of the digital age was further underlined when it introduced the AFC Competition Management System (CMS) in August 2016.

As part of the AFC’s commitment to strengthen the capabilities of its Member Associations, the state-of-the-art CMS allows Member Associations to control and manage all aspects of their competitions across every stage of a season.

Launched in collaboration with Genius Sports, a global leader in sports technology and developers of the FIFA Connect platform, the CMS has been modernising the way Member Associations manage competitions, saving valuable time and resources and empowering them to take greater control in data generation.

Awad Shouibat, Competitions Manager at the Jordan Football Association said: “For many years, we have been using the traditional system, which meant capturing the information manually, and this was a tedious process. Over time, you do find lapses in gathering the data, which compromises the accuracy of the information.

“With the new CMS, we now have a more systematic approach to collating data. Not only is it streamlining the workload, but all departments can share the information easily, so this is strengthening the entire Association.”

Serving as a one-stop integrated hub, MAs can create new competitions, allocate venues and add squads and teams to competitions.

Prior to the match, the system also allows the MAs to generate fixtures and team line-ups, allocate referees, manage accreditations and official records, initiate disciplinary proceedings and in a seamless process, publish key match and competition information online.

In the post-match phase, it enables the simple generation of key post-game reports that help to record and gather years’ worth of crucial information.

As one of the system’s early adopters, the Philippines Football League, which launched its first professional season in April last year, is benefitting from the seamless and intuitiveness of the CMS.

“The Competition Management System has immensely improved the Philippines Football League’s competition operations. It also allows for a more efficient work flow through the appointment of match commissioners and match officials through its allocation feature.

“The most helpful tool of the CMS is in relation to the pre-game player selection list which is electronically done without any hassle. Post-match information such as match summary, match commissioner and referee reports are also instantly made available upon submission.

“Overall, the CMS has enhanced the operations of the PFL through its efficient and user-friendly interface.”

Source: the-afc.com