World football governing body FIFA opened its home, in Zurich, Switzerland, to the AIPS Young Reporters for the most part of Tuesday, November 23, and served up a wide range of discussions around the beautiful game through comprehensive presentations from some of its top officials.
From the founding of FIFA in 1904 to future competitions like the FIFA Men’s World Cup Qatar 2022 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, the young reporters were fed with so much information.
In a video message, FIFA President Gianni Infantino apologised for not being physically present with the young reporters, as he is currently in Qatar, which only recently celebrated 365 days to go for Qatar 2022. He briefly explained how busy the year has been for football, adding that: “All of these endevours benefit greatly from the skills and experiences of the sports press reflecting the excitement of the action on the pitch and the significance of football off the pitch throughout the society.”
Infantino then wished the young reporters a productive day at the home of FIFA, telling them he looks forward to their “contributions at FIFA tournaments in the months and years ahead”.
The packed agenda for the day featured an incredible line-up of speakers: Honey Thalijieh, Corporate Communications Manager; David Farrelly, Director of Communications; Kari Seitz, Head of Women Refereeing; Sarai Bareman, Chief Women’s Football Officer; Pascal Zuberuehler, Senior Football Expert, FIFA High Performance Programme; Emanuel Femminis, Senior Corporate Communications Manager; Kenny Jean-Marie, Chief Member Associations Officer; Andreas Graf, Head of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination.
Following intense conversations on the development of women’s football, commitment to human rights, challenges of refereeing, talent discovery and development, making football truly global as well as the plan for a biennial World Cup, the AIPS Young Reporters were led to the FIFA World Football Museum for a tour of the interactive exhibition that tells the story of the sport.
Source: AIPS Media
Photo Credit: FIFA
