Ghana is set to benefit from FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme (TDS) with the construction of an elite talent development academy here to develop technical players and to bridge the gap between the various regions.
This was announced by FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, at the FIFA Football Summit 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Consequently, FIFA has released USD 28 million in funding globally to provide the necessary support for the youth development initiative.
According to his statement, published on FIFA.com, the gesture would be extended to each of the 211 Member Associations (MAs) by the end of 2027.
And to provide a solid technical base for the development of these academies, FIFA has already deployed 24 coaches to support the identification of talented players to destinations namely Ghana Malawi, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Liberia.
“They will be supported by full-time local coaches provided by the respective MAs in order to ensure the project’s legacy by establishing a coaching talent pool in the country. Together, the coaches will implement the three key pillars of the initiative: find talented players, train them to give them the tools to best exploit their ability, and give them the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice by playing matches,” said the former Arsenal Manager.
According to him, “the TDS aims to reduce the footballing disparities between different regions around the world.”
Mr Wenger stated that 176 MAs have already enrolled in the TDS – surpassing the stated goal of 150 for the year, set when applications opened in April 2023.
“We need specialised eyes to go in there and help to identify the talent because we want to give the importance to intelligence, to technique, to the technical level,” stated Mr Wenger.
He said a “minimum contact time” of five training sessions and one game per week for players aged between 12 and 15 was required to enable talent to flourish.
“Basically, we want to develop a technically perfect player. That means no matter what, we want to make the ball your friend. No matter where it comes from, it is welcome. And that means we want to equip the players to deal with every situation they will face in football. And that is technique. We are firstly a technical sport – we never want to forget that.”
“We have many private academies in the world, but unfortunately many children with talent cannot have access to these private academies, because you have to pay to get in. We want, everywhere in the world, that every talent in the world can go and play football for free. And that’s why this is a very important criteria for us to get the FIFA Academy label to be free access for every single person.”
BY ANDREW NORTEY
