Saturday 18 December 2021, 15:00

FIFA President meets association chiefs to discuss football development

  • President Infantino met with the Presidents of the Burundi and New Caledonia Football Associations

  • Discussions took place in Doha, ahead of the final of the FIFA Arab Cup on Saturday

  • Increasing global competitiveness and maximising impact on global development form two goals of the President’s Vision 2020-23

The FIFA President has met with two Member Association (MA) Presidents to discuss how FIFA can offer its continued support to football development in their respective countries and regions.

Meeting in Qatar, where the final of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021™️ takes place between Tunisia and Algeria on Saturday, President Infantino held productive talks with Révérien Ndikuriyo and Gilles Tavergeux – Presidents of the Burundian Football Association and the New Caledonian Football Federation respectively.

At the meeting the discussions were around the challenges and solutions around ensuring continued commitment, funding and support from the global football community to aid development in each of their countries as well as in neighbouring member associations under CAF and the OFC.

As part of FIFA’s unwavering commitment to ensuring equal access to development opportunities to all MAs, maximising the organisation’s impact to support global development at grassroots level is written into the President’s Vision 2020-23, and forms one of his 11 goals to make football truly global.

The FIFA Forward Development Programme plays a crucial role in achieving that commitment. It was set up as tailor-made support for football development in each of the 211 MAs and the six confederations and was formed based on three principles – more investment, more impact and more oversight.