JOHANNESBURG - Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) president Gianni Infantino over the weekend called on member unions in the Southern Africa region to work together to grow the game.
Infantino said in Johannesburg at the Cosafa (Council of Southern African Football Associations) Annual General Meeting (AGM): “We all have to work for unity, to bring everyone in Africa together. I said this to you at the Caf [Confederation of African Football] congress. We are all Fifa, we have to work together to have a united Africa, for global football’s sake. Africa needs to start to get back what it has given to world football.”
Also in attendance at the meeting were South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, and Caf presidential candidate Patrice Motsepe, while South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan was also present.
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Cosafa president Phillip Chiyangwa said: “This AGM comes on the back of a global pandemic and it is challenging times. Covid has ravaged the beautiful game, preventing many players from playing football I this time.
“As such we have strategised, and we have not failed, in 2020 we held four consecutive tournaments over a span of six weeks, thanks to doctor Danny Jordaan.
“I must also applaud the minister, Nathi Mthethwa, for his support of our tournaments in Nelson Mandela Bay at the end of last year.
“Our women’s and youth tournaments would not have been possible without the insight of Infantino, who saw the merit in supporting them. He put Fifa’s money where his mouth his (through the FIFA Forward grant). He promised to provide his support and he has.”
African News Agency (ANA)