FIFA launch a three day Football for Schools course

In an effort to drive the school™s football programme, the world™s football mother body FIFA today launched the three day Football for Schools capacity building course, which is aimed at accelerating the running of schools football on the continent.

South Africa is only the third country on the continent to benefit from this programme, and today all the 52 SAFA regions were in attendance at the three-day course taking place at the SAFA Technical Centre, in Fun Valley, south of Johannesburg.

FIFA Football for Schools programme director Fatimata Sidibe has outlined the idea behind this programme.

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œWe are very happy to be with the president in South Africa and to launch the Football For Schools programme in South Africa. You know Football For School it™s a programme which was launched first the idea came from our president [Gianni] Infantino and the executive committee of FIFA in 2018, so we had to launch the programme in 211 countries".

"Football For School is the grassroot football so its not a competition at that level but its how we can develop life skills in schools and how we can help the children to be better citizen in future and also to learn football said Sidibe.

Amongst the representatives from around the country and joining the 52 regions today, were also officials from the Department of Spots, Arts and Culture as well as their counterparts from the Department of Basic Education.

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Sidibe also talks about the four pillars which make up this programme: œSo, it has four pillars-the first one is these life skills which were develop by UNESCO and FIFA".

"We have technical part, how to play football, developed by the FIFA technicals inside the FIFA, we have also the digital one Sportrador which is our partner which develops an app and we can download this up in every country where we launch the school and we have equipment-we have five-million balls the size-4 for children".

"We are in partnership with Adidas, we are distributing and there is also financial incentive that will to ferederation-very small one just to help to launch the programme

By: Velile Mnyandu