WESTIN, CAPE TOWN – Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa says one of his focuses is to prioritise grassroots sports development and women’s sport in the country.
Kodwa was addressing the delegates at the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO) General Assembly on Wednesday.
The Assembly is taking place from Tuesday 21-24 November 2023 at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town.
The FIFPRO General Assembly is a gathering of Football Players’ Unions from around the world.
Over 80 countries are represented at this gathering by Presidents and General Secretaries of Football Players’ Unions.
The event serves as an opportunity for FIFPRO and its 66 member unions to align on global strategy, share best practice, reflect on the work done to help footballers in the previous year, and look ahead to the future.
Kodwa has called on former players to be part of initives like FIFPRO.
“Football is a very short career, I mean you are talking about an economy in football, an economy in sport in general. Most clubs don’t prepare the players on what will happen after a playing career,” said Kodwa.
“In our environment, especially in our country we have some if not many retired players who have not done anything beyond football.
“Platforms like this do help a lot in preparing a player for the exit strategy while still playing.”
Kodwa, who is the Vice-President of the Seventh International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for Physical Education in Sport (MINEPS VII) spoke on the importance of having former footballers in the FIFPRO space.
He says the progress on the grassroots development is ongoing and plans to upskill schools sports.
“We are also building sports facilities and providing sport equipment to schools in rural and under-serviced communities,” he said.
“This is our intervention as Government to unearth talent from a young age, to develop coaching and teaching, and to build an active nation.
“We are also integrating a national school sport programme, working together with stakeholders in sport and education to ensure that sport is included in the school curriculum.
Image: SportArtsCultur / Twitter.
