Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku has praised FIFA President Gianni Infantino for his support of African football following a meeting in Paris.
The two leaders discussed the progress of Ghanaian football and the ongoing collaboration between the GFA and FIFA on Thursday.
Infantino commended the GFA for its effective utilization of the FIFA Forward program, particularly in the upgrade of the Ghana Soccer Centre of Excellence in Pampram.
“I congratulated him on the Ghana Football Association making excellent use of the FIFA Forward programme, such as the recent upgrade to the Ghana Soccer Centre of Excellence,” Infantino said following the meeting at the FIFA office.
He also expressed satisfaction with Ghana’s participation in the FIFA Talent Development Scheme and the efforts to increase women’s involvement in football.
“President Okraku also explained how Ghana was benefitting from the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, giving anyone who wants to play football in Ghana a chance to shine. He also provided me with an update on the work being done to encourage greater female participation in our sport.”
“Ghana certainly is a football nation, as I saw for myself during a visit a few years ago, and the GFA is working incredibly hard to ensure more young people in the country can play our wonderful sport. I look forward to continuing our excellent collaboration and to seeing Ghana participate in FIFA tournaments in the future.”
Okraku emphasised Ghana’s commitment to football development, highlighting the revival of youth competitions and the overall improvement of domestic football.
“FIFA, led by the President, has been at the forefront of support for the development of football, especially in Africa. It was always important for us to engage and to know how far we are going, how well we are doing, and what we have to do to make it much, much, much better,” Okraku said.
“I think that the President is very clear in what needs to be done. As the President of a federation, I’m also very clear on the vision of FIFA and together we are both sharing the same vision,” he added.
Okraku said that Ghanaian football was on the rise again. “We’ve introduced more youth competitions, more youth national teams… All our domestic competitions are back on track and are timely. So I think the outlook looks very good,” he said.
“What we have to do now, going forward, is to harness the potential and the positives that have come out of what we have done, and to make sure that we continue to improve on the work we are doing. But, at the moment, I would say we are on the rise again.”
The meeting reaffirmed the strong partnership between Ghana and FIFA, with both parties committed to further developing the sport in the West African nation.
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