The maiden CAF GS Academy has opened in Windhoek, Namibia, with the aim of building the capacities of General Secretaries/Chief Executives of Member Associations, equip them with skills and tools to enable them improve in the discharge of their duties.
The project, organised in partnership with UEFA, through their UEFA Assist Program, will run from 22-26 October 2018, and also introduces participants to good governance practices and the need for transparency.
The content of the seminar constitutes one of the modules of the Masters in Football Management (MFM) program, organized by the University of Lausanne in collaboration with UEFA.
"To improve the game, CAF engaged UEFA for knowledge and experience sharing for our General Secretaries who are doing a lot for African football. We have to endeavour to get other stakeholders involved, highlight transparency and tangible plans," said CAF Deputy General Secretary, Essadik Alaoui said.
Head of International Relations at UEFA, Eve Pasquier, who is leading a team of UEFA Experts explained: "The aim is to help the General Secretaries to be more professional and organized to the standards of today. Those standards call for communication and good governance. The timing is ideal because it is more practical and we have hands on checklists and procedures for the development of the game. We are not here to tell them what to do; but to assist and incorporate into their daily routines at their Federations".
On his part, Roger Kambatuku, Executive Committee member of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) called on participants to embrace the workshop and learn as much as possible from the UEFA experts.
"This course is important for us to grow the game. UEFA has been successful in many areas of the game and learning and sharing with them is beneficial indeed. Hosting this course as Namibia is a privilege for us as well as we aid the development of the game on the continent," Kambatuku said.
Topics to be covered include Governance and role of federations, role and responsibilities of General Secretaries; Financial Planning, Monitoring and reporting; People Management, Sponsorship, Public Funds and Communication; Player Development; Player Administration and Game Administration.
Member Associations present include Namibia, Liberia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, Botswana, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Gambia in addition to representation from West African Football Union (WAFU) A Zone.
The next leg of the CAF GS Academy will be in Ethiopia from 5-9 November 2018, which will be followed by two seminars in January 14-19 2019 in Djibouti and then 25 February to 01 March 2019 in Morocco.
