FIFA and the African Union have launched a football competition for schools after FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President of DR Congo Felix Tshisekedi, agreed on the same. This competition will first kick off in DR Congo.
The aim is to improve football at the grassroots level in Africa and to help improve lives through the sport. The additional motive of this is to instill positive values in African children and help develop the youth on the continent.
“President Tshisekedi is passionate about football, and I’m delighted that we can work together to give hope to all children across Africa thanks to football,” Gianni Infantino said at the conclusion of the meeting. “Together, FIFA, AU [African Union], CAF and our member associations will develop competitions and training for the youth through football, because football is more than a sport, it is a school of life. Through football, you can teach respect for adversaries and rules, learning how to play as a team, how to win and lose. With this schools championship we plan to make these values, which are already strong in Africa, even stronger.”
The program is all set to be tested out in Kinshasa first before it is rolled out to all of FIFA’s member nations in Africa. The FIFA President believes that education, schools and football must be symbiotic and it is extremely important to invest in infrastructure for the growth of the sport.
The goal is to give all children in Africa (boys and girls), hope, and FIFA has vowed to contribute to training programs in the country as well. An inter-school football competition is the best way forward to develop the beautiful game in the football-crazy continent, that is Africa.
DR Congo is proud to be the first nation to launch an inter-school football competition in collaboration with FIFA and cannot wait to help the other African nations do the same in the future to help the growth and development of football in Africa.
