15 November 2018 – FIFA’s Head of Technical Development Services, Jurg Nepfer, expressed his delight over the positive response he received on the first day of the FIFA Grassroots Exchange Programme workshop which kicked off in Rivonia, Sandton today.

Nepfer stated that he was most impressed by the type of questions and a number of grievances Technical Directors from six different Southern African countries who came to attend the workshop, put to the fore on the day.

The FIFA Head of Technical Development also mentioned that it was one of the best ways to go about coming up with proper solutions to help solve some of the concerns Technical Directors might be facing in their respective football associations.

The workshop will run up until 17 November, a day where South Africa will face Nigeria in a second leg Group E Africa Cup of Nations qualifier clash at FNB Stadium.

“I am happy with how the first day went,” Nepfer said. “Our Technical Directors were very attentive and had a number of questions regarding some of the grievances they are facing in their respective associations. Which is good because they are the ones who are responsible for the smooth running of football development in their respective countries.”

Nepfer, who also gave a presentation on the day regarding the amount of money FIFA allocates to each member association concerning their football affairs on an annual basis, stated why he decided to educate those who were in attendance on the day regarding the matter.

“My presentation touched on the amount of money which is available for each project, operational costs, running costs of federations, competitions, development programmes allocated for each member association. It was important for us to pass on this information to our technical Directors because they also need to be kept up to date on how things work.”