Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has hailed Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe for donating $10 million (about K7.8 billion) towards newly-introduced Fifa-CAF Pan-African-African Schools Football Championship.
The CAF president announced the donation on Tuesday during his visit to the Ivory Coast. He made the donation through the Motsepe Foundation.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu yesterday said Malawi stands to benefit a lot from the donation.
He said: “This is highly commendable. We stand to benefit from this initiative. Football has to go back to the schools. This is the future. The initiative being sponsored by the CAF president will go a long way in unearthing talent in schools.”
The donation will be used to initiate and support the development and growth of schools’ football in the six CAF Zones as part of the Fifa-CAF Pan-African School Football Championship which was launched by Fifa and CAF in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo three weeks ago and had no sponsor.
Football marketing consultant Felix Ngamanya Sapao said Motsepe has demonstrated that he was serious with his campaign promises.
He said: “In the history of football, there have been many leaders who directly benefited massively from football. None of them even put $1 million to support football.
“We should hail the leader who doesn’t benefit from football, but gives to the game. This is the first time ever. This is worth praising.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino also welcomed Motsepe’s donation, saying it will enhance talent development in schools.
“Schools are an extremely important social vehicle for the promotion of schools competitions. Football values, which include respect, discipline, teamwork and fairplay, are perfect complements for the education of future generations, and Fifa is delighted to be part of this important initiative, together with CAF, for the benefit of youths in Africa.
“Thanks to the generous donation of the Motsepe Foundation, joy and hope will be given to millions of children across the continent for years to come,” Infantino was quoted as saying by Cafonline.com.
The Pan-African Schools Championship will target boys and girls aged between 12 and 14.
The competition will have three stages starting at national level via national football associations.
National champions will thereafter qualify to the six zonal level tournaments which provide the qualification path to the Fifa-CAF Pan-African School Football Championship finals.
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