Gianni Infantino has met with the President of the Mozambican Football Federation, and held constructive talks on a wide scope of topics. Following the meeting, President Fezal Sidat praised Gianni Infantino’s vision for African football and said that Africa need to find ways of encouraging more top players to remain on the continent.

“Many players from the African continent are playing in Europe, they’re in France and other countries. We need to find a balance and preserve the quality of African football, in terms of finances as well,” he said after the two met in Paris.

“What do we have to do? Create more competition, more competition to attract more players to play in Africa and not leave Africa to play in Europe. I think that FIFA is our very important vehicle to finding that balance. Every time we are at a Congress, I know that President Infantino’s vision is to find that balance,” he continued.

Mr Sidat also praised FIFA for providing more development funds for African football.

“It is extremely important to have a futuristic vision,” he said. “For me, what FIFA is doing – I don’t have words, I only have immense appreciation for the yearly support, the yearly budget that FIFA gives and the support that FIFA Forward has provided.”

Mr Sidat ended by revealing that FIFA Forward projects in Mozambique were also discussed, particularly in the provinces. “We also spoke about the new National Training Centre, which is incredibly important for us; FIFA’s support was vital and [the new centre] was well received by the FIFA President.”