Times Of Swaziland: FIFA TO MONITOR PROFESSIONALISM IN ESWATINI

FIFA TO MONITOR PROFESSIONALISM IN ESWATINI
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BY NTOKOZO MAGONGO on 26/01/2021 00:27:00


MBABANE – The country has a point to prove to the Football International
Federation Association (FIFA).
This comes after the launch of the Professional Football Landscape, which is a
digital database comprising key facts and figures on players, clubs, transfers
and top-tier competitions across all 211 member associations.
The new tool will offer a detailed visual overview of the game. The FIFA
Professional Football Landscape has been created for the whole football
community including Eswatini, in order to monitor the professionalisation of
football, in line with FIFA’s strategic objective of mapping and promoting
football development around the world in order to make the game truly global.
In the next coming weeks, all member associations including the Eswatini
Football Association (EFA) will be given access to the platform, thus enabling
them to provide updates on both men’s and women’s football on a regular
basis.
Professional
The FIFA Professional Football Landscape provides a fascinating insight into the
structure of professional football across the world, including the following
takeaways: nearly 130 000 professional players and more than 4 400 professional
clubs have been identified around the world.
EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe confirmed yesterday that
they were part of the newly-launched programme as they feature in all FIFA
programmes.
The programme is linked with the Global Football Development headed by Arsène
Wenger, who said the programme was aimed at giving every talent a chance.
first-ever
Over 200 member associations across all confederations have signed up for
FIFA’s first-ever Talent Development Programme, setting a new benchmark for
initiatives created by world football’s governing body in the area.
The list comprises, among many others, the current men’s and women’s world
champions, France and the USA respectively, as well as member associations (MAs)
that have never qualified for a FIFA tournament.
Wenger added that the programme aims to provide member associations with a
thorough analysis of their high performance ecosystem in both men’s and
women’s football, including all national teams, domestic leagues, scouting
projects and academies, in order to ensure that every talented player gets a
chance to reach their potential.
“The whole world has signed up for the FIFA Talent Development Programme. We
are very proud of the high number of participants and the trust that all member
associations have given us. With trust comes responsibility, though: we have to
be swift, helpful, knowledgeable and efficient,” said Wenger.
success
He said the success of the programme would be based on good communication and a
precise analysis of the needs of every member association so that they can
deliver a report and provide tailor-made support.
“We also want to create opportunities, for example through best practice
models, in which member associations can learn from each other and have the
possibility to think outside of the box and their own environment,” he added.
FIFA said as health remains the main priority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,
online tools are set to play a key role in the implementation of the Talent
Development Programme.
This year, FIFA will focus on the implementation of tailor-made technical
programmes for each member association with a view to tackling potential
challenges and maximising the comparative advantages that each association
possesses.