The SA Football Association (Safa) will be bringing former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger to South Africa in March as part of the association’s “Vision 2030”.
This is according to Safa president Danny Jordaan, who revealed the plans during a recent national executive committee meeting.
Jordaan said as part of Safa’s “Vision 2030” plans, the association will utilise the expertise of the renowned football coach to help improve South African football and ensure that the national teams are able to compete at the highest international level.
“We have engaged Arsene Wenger on exactly how to build globally competitive teams, and it is quite interesting in his own observations, and maybe in March we will bring him here so that you can speak to him,” Jordaan said.
“He made an evaluation of each and every country and wrote a report, increasing global competitiveness.
“So, the question for us from that report is ‘how do you increase global competitiveness in South African football?’ That report is there, so we will continue.”
Wenger was appointed by Fifa as the chief of global football development in 2020 to enhance football growth across the world and minimise the gap between Europe and Africa in the football spectrum.
He is also a member of the International Football Association Board as a football and technical advisor.
The long-standing Safa president stressed that the association has not shifted from its “Vision 2022” targets.
Despite forerunners Bafana Bafana failing to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which were some of the main targets, Jordaan emphasised that both national (soccer) teams have made significant progress since implementing “Vision 2022” in 2014.
The men’s national team has since climbed up 13 spots in the Fifa world rankings, currently occupying the 67th spot from 80th. Bafana are ranked number 12 on the continent.
Banyana Banyana are ranked 28th in the world and number two in Africa behind Nigeria, despite winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.
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