Meet the Founder
Hi, I am Sami
My name is Sami Shamrani, a project management and business development consultant. I am also the founder and CEO of YARDH Platform.
With over 20 years of experience in the project-based industry as a project manager, then a consultant holding certifications like MPM, P3O, PBA, PMP, and VMA, I’ve dedicated my career to helping organizations achieve their goals through structured projects.
But YARDH is more than just another project—it represents a belief that strong management and sustainable leadership can transform football.
The Story of YARDH
The idea for YARDH grew over time, sparked by a transformative moment in June 2023. The Saudi Sports Minister announced the transfer of ownership of four major Saudi Pro League clubs to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as part of a bold privatization initiative. Superstars were contracted to play with Saudi teams, and the Saudi Pro League became one of the most-watched leagues in the world.
As a football fan, I saw this as a historic step for Saudi football. But as a consultant, I began to ask: How can we make this sustain and even develop? A few months later, when the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF) declared its intent to bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034, the vision for YARDH truly began to take shape.
Developing local football at this scale is no small challenge. Having been a passionate football fan for over 30 years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of the industry’s nuances. But with the privatization framework in place, and competing on a global level, it introduces a higher level of change management. Achieving this goal requires effort, attention to detail, and unwavering commitment—but most importantly, it requires a sustainability mindset.
From a business perspective, local clubs, leagues, and organizations face significant challenges—balancing finances, managing resources, and planning for long-term success. The football industry has become more complicated than before, as all other business sectors. These are the same issues I’ve spent years addressing in my professional life, and it became evident that the principles of business project management could fundamentally improve how football is managed. So, my first step was exploring the football industry.
I began navigating the football landscape and accruing knowledge. I even applied for the Football Administration and Management Program (FAM) offered by the AFC to sharpen my expertise. Over the next year, I gathered information, located resources, benchmarked and analyzed previous projects, identified gaps, and expressed challenges. It was a year-long journey of preparation that led to the birth of YARDH at the end of 2024 as: A platform dedicated to equipping football stakeholders with the tools to not just survive, but thrive.
Why YARDH?
YARDH bridges the worlds of leadership, project management, and football. Our core mission is to guide football communities toward sustainable success by embedding modern management practices into their operations. From leadership and talent development to infrastructure planning, we aim to make a lasting impact on football management and beyond.
Football has always been more than a game to me—it’s a stage for dreams, collaboration, and growth. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always been drawn to project management. Football and project management share a common essence: teamwork, planning, and execution to achieve a shared goal within a limited timeframe. Every event, competition, league, match, and training session can be seen as a project to initiate, plan, and manage, with lessons learned to improve in the future. This is the philosophy that drives both my work in project management and my vision for YARDH.
Through YARDH, I hope to inspire and enable others to achieve greatness on and off the field. Let’s build something extraordinary together. Feel free to explore YARDH or reach out—I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas about shaping the future of football management. Most importantly, I want you to share in the success. YARDH is beyond any individual, including myself; it is a sustainable initiative designed to endure and evolve long into the future.