Global Fútbol

The health emergency caused by COVID -19 has caused global sports competitions to grind to a halt and has demanded an abrupt change in working styles. Across LaLiga, the virtual office has become the new normal and through the league’s technology platforms, the competition and its clubs can maintain productivity.

LaLiga launched its Digitalízate (‘Digitalise yourself’) programme this season, an initiative that has been ramped up to facilitate the daily remote working for the more than 500 LaLiga employees and 42 LaLiga clubs.

“LaLiga employees are maintaining their work rhythm in a time in which competitive football isn’t taking place. There are many projects that we have underway and that must continue to progress as planned," explains Jose Carlos Franco, Technology Director at LaLiga. "LaLiga employees are well versed in using these tools and now that they are in regular use, we can ensure that everyone continues to be connected and able to work from home until the end of the health emergency."

This online technology programme, which is based on Microsoft technology, has also reached the 42 LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank clubs. All clubs can use the tools whether or not they have a current Microsoft license. By signing up, users have the chance to use tools such as Office 365 E1 and Teams for free for the next six months.

In particular, Microsoft Teams is LaLiga's chosen virtual hub for its remote workforce, allowing working groups to chat, meet, make calls, and collaborate in a single location.

User guides have already been prepared and shared with clubs, while training sessions have been offered in collaboration with Microsoft to help clubs that want to adopt these collaborative work tools and maintain productivity.

"In the same way that our colleagues are working with these tools, we want employees of LaLiga clubs to have everything at their disposal so they don’t have to stop their activities," added Minerva Santana, director of Innovation, Strategy and Technological Transformation of LaLiga. "These productivity and collaboration tools support communication processes in secure environments that will be very useful to us all at this moment in time."