IPNEWS: Former Arsenal Football Club coach, and senior technical advisor to FIFA President Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, Arsene Wenger has announced that FIFA is set to open a football academy in Liberia in 2024.
According to a dispatch from FIFA headquarters, Liberia among five other African countries this year.
“Over the next six months to one year, our plan is to open more academies in Africa,” said Wenger. “We are now close to opening new ones in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, and Zambia.
The agreements were signed during Former President George Weah administration.
With barely one month in office, will the UP-government claim victory for FIFA’s announced plan to establish a Football Academy in Liberia?
The announced plan to establish a Football Academy in Liberia was disclosed by FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, on Saturday via his social media X handle.
“There have been remarkable improvements since the last tournament. On the pitch, off the pitch, the organization, the quality of the pitches, the level of organization on the pitch – the commitment was intense”, Mr. Wenger said.
Arsene Wenger: “Over the next six months to one year, we plan to open more academies in Africa. We are now close to opening new ones in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Zambia. By the end of 2026, we’ll have 75 academies all over the world. That means football education has moved forward and that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment”.
“We want the game to be more competitive and of better quality and there is only one way to do it: it’s the quality of the football education and quality of the competitions,” he added.
Continuing, Wenger stated: “It means just to make the ball your friend. Football is played with your feet and that’s not completely natural, it has to be educated. To do it well, you have to start at a very, very young age. Once you have that basis, you have to prepare the players to adapt to every style of play.”
Wenger also announced that FIFA has already deployed 24 coaches to assist in the identification of talented players.
He said six more will be sent to Liberia, Malawi, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Ghana. This is to provide a solid technical foundation for the development of FIFA Academies.
The coaches will be assisted by full-time local coaches provided by the respective member associations in each country.
Their job will be to “find talented players, train them to give them the tools to best exploit their abilities, and give them the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice by playing matches,” read the statement by FIFA.
