FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday during his visit to Guyana made his way to the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue, where he engaged local patrons and witnessed one of the ongoing projects of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) – the grassroots programme that targets young footballers at the Academy Training Centre (ATC).
There, the Swiss national was happy to see the youths playing and having fun, and delivered a simple message to them to have fun while reminding them that anyone can play the game that teaches us teamwork.
The visiting delegation, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, made a stop at the Academy Training Centre and saw the grassroots programme in action
“It is a great pleasure for me to be here in this beautiful country of Guyana, to see you enjoying the game, to see you enjoying football, but it’s much more fun to play, enjoy and have fun than listen to me talk, so my short message to you is to just enjoy it and also believe in yourself and you learn about teamwork,” Infantino said, adding “I know my friend Wayne [Forde] and all of you are doing a good job in developing football in this country.”
Forde, the GFF boss, acknowledged the moment as he told the players the reason behind Infantino’s visit.
“This is a momentous occasion for football and football in Guyana: President Infantino visited Guyana and has so far been excited as to what is going on in Guyana and football development. We had a lot of consultation on the work being done, especially our youth development brought the FIFA President here to see you [the players],” Forde said.
Infantino’s visit makes him the third FIFA President to touch down in Guyana, following João Havelange’s stop in 1976 and Sepp Blatter’s in 2001.
