FIFA boss visits Ghana: According to the GFA, the gesture was aimed at strengthening ties between the world football governing body and the West African nation.
President of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), Gianni Infantino visited Ghana on Monday February 27, 2017. The FIFA president during his visit called on Ghana’s President Nana Akufo Addo at the Flagstaff House.
He also met with with members of the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), to share ideas on his new vision of developing the game across the globe. According to the GFA, the gesture was aimed at strengthening ties between the world football governing body and the West African nation.
See: FIFA’s Plan to Make World Cup 48 Team Tournament Instead of 32
Ghanaians have been speculating about the possible reasons for the August visit since the announcement by the country’s FA President Kwesi Nyantakyi. While the meeting has come and gone, we bring you some of the issues discussed.
At a conference, the FIFA President touted the achievements of the country in world football -with regards to the unarguably outstanding feats of Ghana’s Black Stars internationally. According to him, the Black Stars are a significant part of the history of football.
The FIFA president however, opened up on his dissatisfaction on some irregularities existent in the world of football. During the meeting with the President, the Swiss man revealed his plans to tackle corruption and ensure transparency in world football. Infantino revealed a new article introduced by FIFA, which requires every football association to publish its accounts on a yearly basis.
The FIFA boss explained that the new article on FIFA’s regulations, will ensure good governance and transparency at the highest levels of football. Failure to follow the directive he said, will result in no funding from the world football governing body. These according to him, are requirements that should be obtainable in any national association.
“These criteria which were nonexistent are now in the statutes of FIFA, and FIFA is obliged to monitor and check that these are put into place”, he said.
Dwelling on the new directive, the FIFA boss spoke about two articles introduced into the FIFA statutes. One deals with the associations, and another with the confederations. A team he said, has already been set up within the FIFA administration to be in charge of Africa. This team’s task is to verify and check that the said requirements are met by the national associations.
Gianni was the UEFA General Secretary since 2009, before he was elected as FIFA President. Having joined UEFA in 2000, Gianni has contributed so much to the world of football both at the global and national levels. He leads a team of over 400 staff, which has helped further strengthen both national team and club football in Europe, as well as UEFA’s role as a respected and credible international governing body.
He led the fight against social ills and threats to the integrity of football in Europe. This included all forms of racism and discrimination, violence and hooliganism, and match-fixing.
Infantino is married to Lebanese Leena Al Ashqar; the couple have four children. He is a fan of Italian Serie A club Inter Milan. He is fluent in Italian, French and German and also knows English, Spanish, and Arabic.
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