AFC signs five-year scouting partnership with Hudl

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Credit: Hudl

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced a five-year scouting rights agreement with Hudl, one of the top names in sports performance technology and video analysis.

As part of this collaboration, the AFC’s match footage and data will be available on the Hudl Wyscout platform—the world’s largest football video and data database.

This will provide coaches, analysts, scouts, and player development professionals with access to in-depth insights across all AFC-organised competitions.

Hudl, which has supported over 8 million sports professionals worldwide with its advanced video and performance analysis tools, will carry AFC content for the next five seasons.

This includes major tournaments like the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26, the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026.

The agreement also covers AFC’s youth tournaments, such as the AFC U23 Asian Cup and multiple editions of the men’s and women’s AFC U20 and U17 Asian Cups, along with the continent’s top club competitions—the AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two, and the AFC Women’s Champions League—through the 2024/25 to 2028/29 seasons.

AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John said the partnership with Hudl will strengthen the AFC’s data capabilities and give coaches and technical staff deeper insights to improve analysis and scouting.

“Data analytics and technology have become an integral part of modern football in recent years, and the AFC is pleased to sign this scouting rights agreement with Hudl,” he said in a press release.

“This strategic arrangement will not only enhance our data and statistical collection but will also empower our coaches and technical staff with access to more detailed and in-depth information, which in turn will elevate their analytical and scouting capabilities.”

Hudl’s Elite Partnership Manager Mateo Bourrut Lacouture said the agreement marks a significant advancement by giving clubs and national teams across Asia full access to high-quality video and data on Wyscout.

“This agreement is a major step forward for clubs, national teams, and analysts across Asia and beyond,” Lacouture said in a press release.

“With the AFC overseeing all top club competitions and the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ in the region, having full coverage on Wyscout ensures that teams can access high-quality video and data for both scouting and in-depth performance analysis of the AFC Competitions.

“This will empower clubs and federations to make more informed decisions, enhance player development, and elevate the level of competition.”

The AFC–Hudl partnership marks a transformative step in Asian football, ushering in a new era of data-driven scouting and performance analysis set to elevate the game across all levels over the next five seasons.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

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Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

 

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

 

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.

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