Leaders in Football staged a highly influential conference at the Stamford Bridge home of Chelsea Football Club this week, 8-9 October.

Stadiacard partnered Leaders in Football and provided Access Control software and hardware for the event.  All participants were issued with an RFID smartcard, produced by Stadiacard, and the card was verified on entry to the event using mobile phone technology which included built-in NFC (near field communications) technology.

The process meant that entry was virtually instantaneous and the organisers were able to track which visitors had arrived at the venue and when, meaning that post-event follow up could be customized to individual needs.

The conference was enthusiastically received by visiting delegates from around the globe and a strong list of speakers gave an interesting insight to the issues of the day in the sport.  Football Association chairman Lord Triesman discussed debt in football, whilst Uefa general secretary David Taylor warned that football clubs with heavy debts could be excluded from future European competitions.  Other speakers included Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, CEO of the European Professional Football Leagues, Mohamed bin Hammam, President of the Asian Football Confederation and Bruce Buck, Chairman, & Frank Arnesen, Sporting Director for Chelsea FC