12 February 2019 03:40

During his visit to Ethiopia, the President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association delivered a historic speech to the 32nd Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa. Gianni Infantino is the first president of FIFA to address the AU.

 

"Africa is a continent that has always been important to me," says Infantino

During his speech, the president of FIFA spoke about the coming FIFA World Cup 2026 and elicited the enthusiastic response of the Assembly when he mentioned the increase in the number of African teams - from 5 in 2018 at 9.5 in 2026 - led to participate in the world's premier event.

In his speech, Gianni Infantino was keen to stress the importance for football of giving something back to Africa: "I think that in the same way that Africa gives a lot of passion and positive things to football , football can bring something to Africa and help its people in key areas such as economic growth, education, integration and governance of football ".

In Addis, FIFA also inaugurated its third regional office in Africa under the watch of President Ahmad of the African Football Confederation.