30 September 2017 – SAFA President, Dr Danny Jordaan is leading a delegation to Spain for a week-long visit as part of the SAFA and LaLiga collaboration in a number of areas of the sport.

This high-level delegation consisting of all Provincial NEC Representatives will visit some of the top football academies in Spain and will exchange notes on the commercial facets and various other aspects of the game; including the expansion of women football.

The Provincial Representatives accompanying the SAFA President are Gerald Don (Western Cape), Abel Rakoma (Limpopo), Mzwandile Maforvane (Free State), William Mooka (Gauteng), David Bantu (Northern Cape), Mzimkhulu Fina (Eastern Cape), Gay Mokoena (Mpumalanga) and Simphiwe Xaba (KZN).

LaLiga’s Africa Office director, Antonio Barradas is also accompanying the group to Spain.

Earlier this year, SAFA and LaLiga signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage collaboration between the two associations and boost the sport in South Africa. The MOU was signed by Dr Jordaan and LaLiga President, Mr Javier Tebas.

In addition to sending officials on exchange programmes, the MOU provides an opportunity for SAFA to send a few promising young South African players to Spain to showcase their skills and train with top LaLiga clubs.

LaLiga will also bring certified coaches to train local coaches as part of SAFA’s drive towards achieving its Vision 2022 goals. The coaching will focus on schools, rural areas, women and grassroots football.

Last month, LaLiga released 2000 soccer balls to SAFA. These balls will primarily be used to assist schools and women setups in rural parts of our country.

Dr Jordaan said that this week’s visit to Spain was part of strengthening Vision 2022 because the focus was primarily on development aspects of the game.

“We are visiting some of Spain’s top academies with the intention of getting key insights that we can use as we build similar facilities in our provinces. Spain is one of the leading football countries on the globe and this visit will empower our officials to implement what they learn there when they return back.

“Players development, talent identification and coaching rollout are the backbone of any nation’s success in football, so this visit is very critical in a number of issues,” he said.- SAFA WEBSITE