29 April 2013
The South African Football Association (Safa) has launched its most ambitious development progamme to date, in the form of national leagues for under-13 and under-15 boys and girls, in a bid to lift the country’s football teams consistently into the top three in Africa and the top 20 in the world within the next decade.
“A decade is both a long time and a very short time as well,” Safa president Kirsten Nematandani told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday. “The Fifa World Cup tournament to be held in Qatar in 2022 is just under 10 years away, and if our plan is to find success, it must be seen there if not before.”
The Safa Under 13 and Under 15 Boys and Girls League will receive funding from the R450-million 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust established following South Africa’s successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The programme will kick off in all of Safa’s 311 Local Football Associations (LFAs) in May, with coaches and talent scouts selecting LFA teams to participate in regional competitions, followed by provincial competitions in September and national competitions in December.
In the process, 1 000 boys and 1 000 girls who show potential will be identified and put through tests at high-performance centres located at the country’s universities.
“This is the first phase in the implementation of our technical master plan, which is intended to enable us to reach our goal in the next decade of being consistently in the top three in Africa and top 20 in the world,” Nematandani said.
South Africa’s national men’s team, Bafana Bafana, is currently ranked 62nd in the world, having climbed more than 20 places thanks to a relatively strong showing at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in January and February. South Africa’s national women’s team, Banyana Banyana, is currently ranked 53rd in the world.
Danny Jordaan, chairperson of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust, said this was the project in which the trust had invested the most funds during its first round of allocations.
“The board of trustees was excited to note that Safa prioritised the under-13 and under-15 leagues for girls and boys as a key element of the technical master plan that was unveiled a few weeks ago,” Jordaan said.
“The board was unanimous in their view that this focus will provide a solid foundation for meaningful development and transformation of the game, thus the lion’s share of the distribution of funds in this first allocation was directed to this initiative.”
SAinfo reporter
