#The role of technical leader

The responsibilities of the technical director

FIFA, 23 Jan 2025

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Technical directors in member associations around the globe have varied roles and responsibilities. Here, a variety of current and former technical leaders provide an insight into their role and the common responsibilities regardless of organisation size or budget.

Responsibility 1: Act as the ‘architect’ for football in your country

Technical directors should act as the ‘architect’ for football in their country, says Hansruedi Hasler, former Technical Director of the Swiss Football Association. To do so, they must have a long-term vision but also the knowledge and capability to develop football in a logical way.

“As a technical director your role is one of an architect. You have to build football in your country,” says Hasler, who also worked as a FIFA technical leadership expert. “As an architect, you are thinking about what should be the foundation for your house. Because a good house does not put the roof on first. First you need to build the foundation and in football that is grassroots and children’s football from age seven up to 12.”

The frontline coach looks for victory in the next game, the technical director looks for victory in the next decade.

Focusing on the long-term health of football in a country rather than focusing solely on the next result is a key guiding principle for all technical directors.  “The technical director needs to have a vision and need to be a visionary,” says Frank Ludolph, UEFA’s Head of Technical Development.  “But there is a quote that says: the frontline coach looks for victory in the next game, and the technical director looks for victory in the next decade.”

Hansruedi Hasler on why the technical director is the “architect for football”.

Responsibility 2: Lead and manage a diverse set of programmes

Effective technical directors must have the skills and knowledge to lead and manage a variety of technical programmes, says Ali Mwebe, Technical Director of the Federation of Ugandan Football Associations. “The key roles and responsibilities of a technical leader are really wide,” says Mwebe. “We look at key issues like developing and implementing a long-term technical development strategy, which enables activities to be aligned for player development.

“We set up player development pathways that ensure boys and girls are given opportunities to play all the way through from grassroots activities to the national youth teams. We also look at preparing players for the transition to the senior national team.”

Ensuring each aspect of the technical department is aligned and working together is another crucial role of the technical director. “It’s really important to make sure we have the right design and structure of the technical department,” explains Anton Corneal, Technical Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. “We have to make sure all the various programmes are in place and aligned. In doing so, our role is to find the right people with the right leadership qualities to lead the programmes.”

Ali Mwebe on the role and responsibility of a technical director in a member association.
Anton Corneal on the role and responsibility of a technical director.

Responsibility 3: Bring people together and share knowledge

How each department within the technical department comes together to collaborate and share knowledge is a key responsibility of the technical director, says Jelle Schelstraete, former Operational Director of Football at the Belgian Football Association.  “I think the main role as a technical director is to make your people work together,” says Schelstraete. “You might be building a strategy, but your strategy is useless if you don't have the people to work with that strategy and to really implement it.

“What I’ve learned in the role is that if you have the right people and you can inspire them, be a sounding board for them and make sure they develop and start living the strategy - that's the most important thing. Across all the departments and programmes you have people with a lot of quality. You need to have those people getting together, discussing topics and really trying to improve football.”

Technical Director of the Danish Football Association, Kenneth Heiner-Møller, describes his role as leading technical development and connecting the ‘dots’ between key departments ensuring any relevant research or learning in one area is shared with another.  “I think my biggest role is actually connecting the ‘dots’,” explains Heiner-Møller. “That’s maybe the best quality of me and my work. I work with coach education, lead our performance team and also the youth national teams and talent programme. So, if anything comes up in the talent programme, I'll make sure that I put that into coach education. If there are new articles coming out of coach education, I'll put that into the performance team and so on.”

Jelle Schelstraete: What is the role of the technical director?
Kenneth Heiner-Møller: What is your role as technical director?

Responsibility 4: Communicate the benefits of technical activities to the board

A successful technical department requires support and resource from boardroom level and the technical director is responsible for communicating ‘upwards’ within a member association.

“We have to ensure the technical department is having a voice not only at secretariat level but also at the executive level to ensure we can implement our programmes successfully,” says Jacquie Shipanga, Technical Director of the Namibian Football Association. “The modern technical director has to manoeuvre from the boardroom to the technical side of the game. Being able to manoeuvre through all these various aspects of the role is key.”

Persuading and influencing executives at the top of the organisation is crucial in ensuring technical programmes have the support and resource in which to grow. “Football has competing demands so technical directors have to be able to go the executive board and defend our activities so that we can get a budget or make them accept our activities,” adds Mwebe.

How technical directors develop a close working relationship with their general secretary is key to ensuring the technical department and technical programmes gain the support they need. It is easy to have a plan, but you have to find the resources to build it,” explains Hasler. “I had a wonderful collaboration with my general secretary and we worked together for 15 years on the technical project. He helped me when we were discussing budget and how to find the money for this new project.”

Jacquie Shipanga: The key skills and characteristics of a technical director

Responsibility 5: Stay in touch with the game and remain visible

Although large parts of the role of the technical director involves operating at boardroom level, it is crucial to stay connected to the pitch, says Jelle Goes, former technical director of Israel and Estonia. “As a technical director you have to support, as much as possible, the technical department. You need to keep contact with the football field because you need to know what's going on,” says Goes. “Don’t climb into your ivory tower: visit the clubs, the club owners and the club technical directors,” adds Goes. “Because a member association is there to develop the football, not so much to develop the member association. We have to serve football.”

Showing interest and being ‘present’ at all levels of the game is an important part of staying connected to football, says Hansruedi Hasler. “Be present, go out and see the game, don’t always be in your office,” says Hasler. “But also go out and see grassroots football, children’s football and coach education – be present.”

Jelle Goes: What is your key priority as technical director?

Responsibility 6: Act as the guardian of the game for football in your country

With technical directors facing a many competing priorities it is crucial to remember the responsibility to act as a ‘guardian for the game’, says John McDermott, Technical Director of the English Football Association. “I worked on a coaching course around 1997 and Sir Bobby Robson [former England national coach] talked about being ‘a guardian of the game’,” explains McDermott.  “I think that’s so important now in the role I do as technical director to have a clear intent that when I leave the game it’s in a healthier state than when I first came into it. It’s trying to see that responsibility as a real joy.”

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