Capital Balls FIFA football balls

The African Union and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) launched the international Year of African Football in Adis Abeba (Ethiopia) on 29 January 2007. The launch ceremony took place as part of the 8th Summit of African Union heads of state. The ceremony also paid homage to CAF, which was founded in Khartoum (Sudan) on 8 February 1957 and this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. The FIFA and CAF presidents made speeches before the 53 African heads of state and government, with FIFA President Josaph S. Blatter reaffirming his confidence in South Africa’s organization of the 2010 FIFA World Cup TM: “For FIFA, plan A is South Africa; plan B is South Africa and plan C is South Africa.” The South African president, Thabo Mbeki, affirmed that the 2010 FIFA World Cup TM in his native South Africa, the first to be staged on African soil, should benefit the whole of the world’s poorest continent. “We have to make absolutely sure that 2010 will benefit Africa and the African diaspora,” said Mbeki.

At a special ceremony in December 2007, CAF, in collaboration with Globacom, will present awards to the ten best African footballers of the last fifty years. Internet users have already selected Cameroon legend Roger Milla as the best player for the period 1957-2007 ahead of Egyptians Mahmoud El Khatib and Hossam Hassan; Milla received 2,246 votes. The voting was organized as part of the festivities making CAF”s 50th anniversary.

The confederation also organized a two-day workshop from 10 to 12 January 2007 for member association’s education officers. The question of finance, without which projects of this scale could not be carried out, has not been ignored. In 2005, the sum of USD 1.3 m was allocated to thirteen member associations, including Botswana, Malawi, Cape Verde, Gambia, Togo, Central African Republic, Sao Tome e Principe, Djibouti, Eritrea and Rwanda. In 2007, thirteen other associations will receive further aid of USD 1.3 m, which will then be extended to all CAF members.

AFC (Asian Football Confederation)

In the draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2007 finals, which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, traditional powerhouse Japan were placed in a tricky group B alongside Qatar, UAE and Viatnam, while top seeds Australia face the difficult task of overcoming Iraq, Oman and Thailand in Group A. Meanwhile, three-time winners Iran will face Uzbekistan, Malaysia and 2004 runners-up China in group C, and group D pits Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, Bahrain and Indonesia against one another.

AFC Media Channel, a comprehensive online registration and accreditation tool for media professionals, was launched in December 2006. The AFC Media Channel is part of the Asian Football Confederation’s efforts to successfully build a media database via a simplified, online registration form and to provide an efficient service for media around the world.

General Sokha Sao has been elected the new president of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) by its Congress. The election took place at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on 9 December 2006. The new FFC executive committee for the next four years comprises senior vice-president Ravy Khek, vice-president Keo Sarin, treasurer Bopha Saradeth Phuong and general secretary Yean Chheang.

The Korea Football Association has become the first FA in Asia to introduce the AFC Professional Football Diploma Coaching Course, the most advanced coaching course in Asia. Twenty-four professional team coaches, both active and retired, enrolled for the course held at the Paju National Football Centre in Seoul.

2,858 is the number of names on the 2007 FIFA List of Referees, which includes all the referees and assistant referees and futsal and beach soccer officials who are entitled to wear the FIFA badge on their kit this year. The confederation with the most male referees is UEFA (261), followed by CAF (231) ant the AFC (187). In total 856 men and 231 women worldwide are entitled to call themselves FIFA referees.
The confederation providing the most football, futsal and beach soccer officials is UEFA, with total of 927, whereas the OFC contributes the fewest with 32.
Last year, the total number of FIFA referees and assistant referees in activity was 2.824.