Speaking at the Closing Ceremony of the three-day FIFA seminar at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg today, Patel said football is a teamwork and the seminar which brought together 28 CAF association presidents, secretary-generals and technical directors was a massive success.
“This was a ground-breaking workshop as it brought together the political, administration and technical aspects of the game in one room. There was enormous networking and plotting the way forward for African football,” Patel said.
“I would like to thank the South African Football Association (SAFA) for hosting such a watershed seminar. As the most resourced country on the continent, I think South Africa is really playing its part in growing the game of football on the continent.
“For this, I would like to thank SAFA President, Danny Jordaan and his Executive for the good work they have done – from hosting the FIFA 2010 World Cup, 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and recently the CHAN tournament.”
Jordaan said critical issues which were deliberated during the three-day workshop comprised integrity matters, good governance and transparency.
“There are a lot of issues which were deliberated here; issues such as reforms within football and we will take these matters to the FIFA Congress in Brazil,” he said.
“We also touched on the need for Africa to have highly qualified Technical Directors as these are individuals who charts the way forward in terms of football development. He/she is the one who crafts the playing philosophy for respective national teams.”