FIFA president Gianni Infantino has showered praises on the South African Football Association (SAFA) for the extremely successful organisation of the first ever FIFA football summit on African soil.
This was also the first official visit by the FIFA president to South Africa since his election into office last year.
The summit, which was mainly focused on the theme of football development, took place at the Sandton Convention Centre over three days this week and was attended by FA presidents from across the world.
Infantino thanked SAFA president Dr Danny Jordaan (see picture above) for an impressive presentation on various aspects of the global game.
The SAFA president also touched on the Vision 2022 blueprint, which involves the completion of the SAFA National Technical Centre, youth development, coaching education and various other initiatives aimed at achieving long-term success.
‘I’m highly impressed by what SAFA has achieved; the SAFA HQ is highly impressive and the plans for the National Technical Centre will make SAFA an example for other FAs on the continent,’ said the FIFA President.
Dr Jordaan’s presentation was lauded by various other FA presidents, especially those from the African continent. Football development, youth and womens’ competitions were also major focal points of the Summit.
Infantino’s presentation on the 48-team FIFA World Cup proposal received unanimous endorsement, an issue receiving long-standing support from the SAFA President as a forward-thinking initiative.
‘The FIFA World Cup has always provided places for between 15 and 20 percent of the total FIFA membership. For example, in 1966 there were 16 teams of a total membership of 70; 1982 (24 teams of a 107 membership); 1998 (32 teams of a 170 membership) and in 2026 48 teams of a 211 membership.’
Dr Jordaan said it was therefore not the first time to have seen an increase in the membership of participating teams in the FIFA World Cup.
FIFA will provide each national association with US$1.2-million annually over the next five years, a move that will help development of the game, especially in developing countries.