ZURICH, Switzerland, CMC:
CONCACAF MEMBERS Barbados and St. Kitts & Nevis were among 20 new projects approved by the FIFA Goal Bureau as part of the FIFA development programme during their meetings on Friday.
In addition, aid will be provided to Anguilla, Jamaica and Saint Lucia in the coming months.
So far, 7,700 footballs have been delivered to national associations as part of the 100,000 Adidas/Goal balls project. This year, orders have already been received for another 11,500 balls.
Altogether 167 national associations, including those pinpointed for aid at the meeting, have now benefited from Goal. Forty projects have already been completed - eight in Asia, nine in Africa, 10 in CONCACAF, three in South America, three in Oceania and seven in Europe.
HELP NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
The brainchild of FIFA President Sepp Blatter to help national associations in practical ways, Goal was ratified by the Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Los Angeles in 1999.
Goal projects are tailor-made to suit the needs and priorities of individual national associations and include the building and refurbishment of association headquarters to ensure independent football administration, technical centres for national teams in all age groups, coaching and refereeing courses and programmes to promote grass-roots football.
Weatherproof artificial turf pitches, natural turf pitches to raise standards and increase the number of pitches at national and regional level, the construction and refurbishment of football academies to nurture young talent and grass-roots football, as well as educational programmes, are also part of the Goal Project.
