Identifying players and coaches/team representative matchmaking digital platform

con-nects footballers to teams and coaches across Europe at an inexpensive rate and among the 91 respondents. According to these results, 74.7 responded very much interested.

This result is a very positive response for this phase which is the hypothesis phase.

A critical phase of the process was the data received from the hypothesis, which com-pelled the author to test the hypothesis to prove the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) by creating a marketing website that received over 1000 early bird subscribers in less than three weeks.

After data were measured, it proceeded to create the App; the responses from the App then enabled the author to learn how the users responded from the use of the App, col-lected feedbacks for better modification.

Additionally, it was an event where there was a high need for the unique service it could render. The traffic view on the page after launch can be seen below, which shows over 6000 page views daily.

Figure 6. Google analytics pageview

25 Player status and demand for App

Images 6,7 and 8 below show the connection between the player's playing status, agent status, and need for the platform. To understand how the player acquisition process works in the football world, the author refers to FIFA's football governing body and a professional player.

Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

FIFA or the Federation Internationale de Football Association is the highest governing body of football in the world. (FIFA 2021.)

A professional is a player who has a written contract with a club and is paid

more for his footballing activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are amateurs. (FIFA 2021.)

Player’s playing status

A Player's playing status is a vital factor that attracts teams to select them or even monitor them. Ordinarily, suppose a player is an amateur or without a team. In that case, it is hard for teams to show interest due to lack of playing form and competitiveness because foot-ball is all about how active you are, fit, and readiness to play. Image 6 shows of the 91 re-spondents, 25% are professionals, while 63.7% are amateurs and 11% other. Please note, being an amateur does not mean being idle or without a team; it simply means not playing in a professional team. Also, it is a known fact that many teams also prefer to go for amateur players because it is inexpensive or cheaper than the almost free model of player acquisition hence getting the player without paying any transfer fees.

According to FIFA, the transfer of players between clubs belonging to the same associa-tion is governed by specific regulaassocia-tions issued by the associaassocia-tion concerned by article 1 paragraph 3, which FIFA must approve. Such regulations shall lay down rules for the set-tlement of disputes between clubs and players, following the principles stipulated in these regulations. Such regulations should also provide a system to reward clubs investing in the training and education of young players. (FIFA 2021).

26 Figure 7. Player playing status

Figure 7 above shows 63.7% of amateur football players, 25.3% professionals, and 11%

unattached players participating in our survey. This result helps the author to under the playing status of players to create more validation process for the players to be scouted.

Player’s agent status

Concerning figuring 8, we considered another factor: the player's agent status, which could also be another factor football teams would like to view before inquiring about a player.

FIFA defines an intermediary as 'A natural or legal person who, for a fee or free of charge, represents players and clubs in negotiations to conclude an employment contract or rep-resents clubs in negotiations to conclude a transfer agreement.’ (FIFA 2021).

So, an intermediary represents for a fee or a charge:

• players in negotiations to conclude an employment contract; and

• clubs in negotiations to conclude:

o an employment agreement or o a transfer agreement.

If a player has an agent, the process goes; thus, the team will have to contact the agent, discuss their interests for the player while the agent will negotiate the demands for the player based on his worth and needs. Sometimes these things happen fast, and some-times it drags on for a long time that teams lose interest because, in as much as the agent

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is looking after the need of the playing, they are also seeking compensation for his ser-vices. Because of the costs of acquiring a player with an agent, most teams would prefer to go for a player without an agent. Figure 8 shows that among the 91 respondents, 72.5% do not have an agent, 15.4% do have an agent, while 12.1% responded no, which in turn could be added to the 72.5 equating to 96.6% responding not having an agent.

Figure 7 and 8 results help us validate the status of players, which in turn will be repli-cated during the onboarding steps on the App where players will need to identify their playing status and agent status that helps the coaches and team representatives make a better decision of the type of players they will be looking for.

Figure 8. Player agent status

Figure 8 above shows that among the 91 respondents, 72.5% are free players, 15.4 % are players with agents, while 12.1% also indicates they don't have any agents at all (these are players who don't have access to having agents). This data suggests there are more free players for easy acquisition and paper transfer of players from one team to another than players with agents that are time-consuming with lengthy negotiations, and expen-sive.

Player's playing status for the App

Lastly, image 9 showed the responses on the survey to know if the players will be paying 15€ one-time yearly reoccurring price to use the platform. Among the 91 respondents, 74.7% responded they would pay, 20.9% reacted maybe, and only one replied no.

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The above-stated results were indeed a match for what the AfriPro platform can offer, connecting coaches and team representatives to undiscovered talented African footballers in Africa.

Figure 9. Demand for the platform

Figure 9 shows that of the 91 football players who participated in the survey, 74.5% indi-cated they would pay, 20.9% replied maybe, and only one replied no. This result shows that there is indeed the demand for the platform and the willingness to pay for it is evident.

The results from data from figures 7,8 and 9 follow the concept of 'build 'in the lean method steps build-measure-learn. The purpose of this survey was to get the responses of football players about the concept, 'If there was a platform that gives such services. The responses were astonishing, which compels the author to proceed to different phases hence, 'measure learn.

29 5 Conclusion

This is a summary chapter of the thesis findings, the platform, target groups, and the chapter ends with a self-evaluation of the benefits of the studies for the company.