Fifa has urged African countries to put much emphasis on technical development other than just the national teams if the game is develop on the continent.
The world football governing body’s Head of Technical Department Jurg Nepfer made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a five-day course for Technical Directors at the Chiwembe Technical Centre in Blantyre, Malawi.
The course has drawn Technical Directors from 14 Eastern and Southern Africa Countries.
Nepfer said development of football in most countries is compromised because much concentration is given to national teams.
“We always look at the top but ignore to think of how the top is feeded. We forget that the players are coming from grassroots and youth football, schools where we put very little or no concentration at all.
“We have the technical directors here to tell them that they need to look beyond their national teams. The Associations should embrace development.
“Development is a long process and this course is aimed at equipping the TD’s to develop and establish development pyramids in their associations,” said Nepfer.
Football Association of Malawi President Walter Nyamilandu thanked Fifa for choosing Malawi to host the high profile course which will help create a football development pathway in the country.
“All the countries here have different case studies on best practices in football development and sharing those ideas will help us to draw a workable manual for our Malawi football looking at the conditions in which we are operating,” he said.
The Guest of Honour Minister of Sports and Culture Grace Obama Chiumia, who officially opened the seminar, advised the participants to take the course seriously as the end product will determine the road map for football development in their respective countries and the regional in a whole.
FAM Technical Director John Kaputa is, among others issues on Malawi football expected to make a presentation on the Fifa Under 15 Regional Leagues. The league, which was launched last year, is in its pilot phase with Malawi as the only country in Africa implementing it.
Among the notable faces taking part in the course, is the TD of South Africa Neil Tovey a former Bafana Bafana international and captain of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning side.
The other countries represented are Mauritius, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Uganda, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
