On the third day of his visit to Lebanon, FIFA President Gianni Infantino held meetings with two of the country’s highest representatives, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. He was accompanied by Lebanese Football Association (LFA) President Hachem Haidar and General Secretary Jihad el Chohof, as well as by the CEO of the FIFA Foundation, Youri Djorkaeff.

During the meetings, Infantino presented FIFA’s Football for Schools Programme, a new project designed to educate boys and girls around the world about important life skills and positive values. The FIFA President praised Lebanon for hosting one of the first Football for Schools pilot projects and shared the very positive outcome of the kick-off events that have taken place in recent days in Mount Lebanon and Beirut.

The discussions also focused on how public authorities can support the development of football in Lebanon alongside LFA and FIFA initiatives. Infantino underlined that the FIFA Forward Programme could also be used to invest in the construction of new and better football infrastructure in the country, including, for instance, the LFA headquarters and technical centre.