By Ntokozo Magongo
MBABANE – Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane shared some moments with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss football development and stadium challenges in the country.
FIFA President meets Eswatini FA counterpart in Paris, France on Wednesday (July 31, 2024) at the FIFA office in Paris, France to discuss to progress of the game in the African nation. Paris is also hosting the 2024 Olympics Games.
According to inside.fifa.comhttp://inside.fifa.com some of the topics discussed included the upgrade of stadiums in the country so that Eswatini can once again host international matches. Eswatini is currently not eligible to host international football matches due to local stadium not meeting the standards of FIFA and the Confederations of African Football (CAF).
Also discussed was the development of women football.
“We further talked about what can be done to upgrade the stadiums in the country so that Eswatini can once again host international matches, which is something that would certainly bring joy to the football-loving people of this country. FIFA is committed to helping all of its member associations and we will continue working with President Simelane and his team to keep developing our game in Eswatini,” said Infantino.
Eswatini has benefited from the football mother body big time especially through the FIFA Forward programme and the FIFA Talent Development scheme.
FIFA Forward supported the building of the state-of-the-art KaLanga Technical Centre in Siteki in 2019, Mkhuzweni Technical Centre and the refurbishment of King Sobhuza II memorial Stadium in Nhlangano.
The FIFA Talent Development scheme aims to help member associations reach their full potential and ensuring that all talented players are given the chance to develop and be discovered.
Simelane said it was important that he meet the FIFA President thank him for coming from his busy schedule and having time for him and Eswatini.
“Football is played all over the country. So I was just briefing the FIFA President and also thanking the FIFA President in terms of the infrastructure, and also putting our challenges to him.
Currently, we don’t have a stadium which meets CAF of FIFA standards and I was just updating him on how far we have gone and also what we need to do so that we can meet the standards,” said Simelane.
