23 May 2020 – The English Football Association has written to the South African Football Association (SAFA) to share various issues of interest and cooperation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the letter to SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan, by his English FA counterpart Greg Clarke, the correspondence says during these difficult times, ‘we have been thinking about how we keep our international football friendships and conversations alive’.
The letter comes on the back of historic cooperation agreements signed between SAFA and the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosts Russia and the 2022 hosts, Qatar.
The COVID 19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on International football and SAFA as part of the global network will work with its partners to find solutions for these challenges.
“SAFA therefore welcomes the opportunity for engagement and will participate in the discussions with the English FA whose experience will be invaluable in our attempt to find solutions to South African challenges.
“These cooperation agreements with our global partners cover areas like the Technical Cooperation, Competitions, Youth Football, Women Football and Education, International matches and many other areas,” said Dr Jordaan.
The SAFA President said while the English FA’s focus is on the Covid-19 challenges for now, SAFA was looking at the post lockdown period to conclude other agreements.
“We have no doubt that such agreements will strengthen the drive for international competitiveness of all our teams. Our U17 Women’s National Team (Bantwana) is one match away from qualifying for their second successive FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, the U20 Women’s National Team (Basetsana) will be playing in the qualifiers for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, the Men’s U23’s preparations for their second successive Olympics (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) will benefit during their preparation for Tokyo 2020 which takes place next year.
“These agreements will give our U20 Men’s National Team (Amajita), Banyana Banyana and Bafana Bafana the much needed competitive engagements,” concluded the SAFA President.
Issued by SAFA Comms Department
For further inquiries, please contact:
Dominic Chimhavi – SAFA: Head of Communications
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