Deakin Students WIN Asian Football Confederation Challenge

By Imago Group
Tuesday 8 May, 2007


L - R
Leighton Wood, CEO of SKA;
Adam Karg, Winner, Deakin University;
John Boultbee, Head of High Performance of Football Federation Australia;
Phillip Georgios, Winner, Deakin University;
Lesley Ferkins, Vice President of SMAANZ

SYDNEY -A pair of honours students from Melbourne’s Deakin University surpassed the efforts of an outstanding group of local and international finalists from the Peoples Republic of China (Tianjin), Japan (Waseda), New Zealand (Unitec) and Australia (Griffith) universities to be named the inaugural winners of Sport Knowledge Australia (SKA) and Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand’s (SMAANZ) case study challenge.

This news was to create a report on the future of football in the Asian region.

Along with other entrants, winners Adam Karg and Phillip Georgios, were required to respond to an exclusive SKA case study - Asian Football Confederation - The Future is Asia – a topic which held particular appeal for the Melbourne students, “It was an ideal study given that entries were open to teams from Asian countries as well as Australia and New Zealand; it offered an equal chance for all of us,” said Georgios.

‘With Australia now joined to the Asian Confederation, the material was topical and gave us a real, tangible link because there is such opportunity for the sport to grow in Asia and for Australia to be a part of that.”

In their case study response, Georgios and Karg surmised that, as much as fast developing nations China and India would play a major role in the Asian football boom, size was not the only indicator for future success. Referring to the case study’s assertion that ‘the Asian Football Confederation is often considered the future of football’ the students wrote, "While the 'future of football' statement lacks conviction in the absence of the Chinese and Indian markets, it should be acknowledged that success will not solely be determined in these markets.

“China and India do not represent the richest consumers nor the most talented players on the continent. Market penetration will be a stronger factor than country size. The mere fact that there is football penetration at all into these markets should be seen as a satisfactory outcome for football.

“Many opportunities exist for the game in Korea, the Middle East and Japan – alone boasting 3.3 million players compared with China’s 7.2 million (Manzenrieter 2004), - as well as in other less wealthy but highly populated countries.

“The AFC's newest member, Australia, has shown neither size nor pedigree is essential to performance on the world stage“.

Having submitted their initial 3,000 word paper along with seventeen other teams from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the People’s Republic of China and South Korea, the pair - both studying at the Bowater School of Management and Marketing at Deakin - made their winning presentation up against four other finalist teams flown into Sydney in late April. For their win, Karg and Georgios, have secured free registration to the 13th Annual SMAANZ conference on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, in late November as well as complimentary one year membership to SMAANZ.

“It will be excellent from networking and academic perspectives to attend the conference and see presentations from academics, PhD students and industry representatives,’ said Karg.

A Bachelor of Commerce with a major in sport management and sport economics, Karg is currently focussing on sport sponsorship management for his honours studies. He has experienced the practical side of the industry with marketing roles in an athlete management company and a tennis focussed sports media group.

Georgios, who majored in sport management and marketing, is looking at elements of a sport development framework for his honours studies. While working towards his Sport Management degree, Georgios too gained practical experience with a stint at the Mooney Valley Racing club in Melbourne. Like Karg he is a football fan.

Dr Paul Jonson, Academic Programme Director of SKA, said the entries had been inspiring, “There was a great diversity of nationalities among the teams who entered and we were highly impressed with the quality of the presentations.

“It was an honour for SKA to join SMAANZ to create the challenge and we were proud to provide a stimulating world-relevant case study that students from all parts of Asia could appreciate.”

ABOUT SKA: Launched in June 2005 with a Federal Government grant, SKA is jointly owned by the University of Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. SKA assists the continued global growth of the sports industry, helping more communities around the world to benefit from Australia’s strong sporting culture. Since its launch, SKA has delivered sport management programmes at the prestigious Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, run facility management courses in China and various seminars and courses in Australia on topics as diverse as player valuation strategies, genetic doping in sport, player welfare, executive sport management, elite sport coaching, major event management and facility management.

ATTENTION EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Dr Paul Jonson, Phillip Georgios and Adam Karg are available for interview by contacting –Imago Group – Liz Herbert, Mobile: 0407 234 221 Tel:+61 2 9331 7222 .