Capital Balls FIFA football balls

Several footballers born in France to Maghrebi parents have gone on to play for France and contribute to Les Bleus’ triumphs, one example being the recently retired Zinedine Zidane, whose parents are Algerian. Zidane is one of France’s best-ever players and was the hero of the 1998 FIFA World Cup™ final, scoring two goals in his country’s 3-0 victory over Brazil. The current France team contains the youngsters Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, both of whose parents are Algerian, and Hatem Ben Arfa, the son of a former Tunisian international. All three were team-mates when France won the European Under-17 Championship in 2004.
22-year-old Younes Kaboul of Moroccan origin, who plays for English club Tottenham Hotspur and won the European Under-19 Championship with France in 2005, is also highly promising. “Algeria is where my parents come from and it is close to my heart, but I play for France”, says Benzema, one of the symbols of the “Zidane generation” of integrated players.

In football, as in life, success is a mixture of several ingredients. Commitment, experience, training and, of course, talent tinged with a spot of luck dictate whether the outcome is victory or defeat, trophies or relegation, jubilation or despair.
It is a moot point as to which ingredient is more vital than the others. Some see only talent as the decisive factor while others cite an endless list of perennial but disgraced geniuses and sing the praises of those stars who have made it to the top by sheer dint of hard work.
The truth of the matter lies, as with many other things, somewhere in the middle. Those not blessed with basic talent soon come face to face with their limitations, with truly exceptional exploits constantly eluding them. But even the most talented will inevitably fail if they rely purely on theit abilities.
The only footballers attributed with having been born with their gift are the Brazilians. And of all the associations, it is Brazil’s CBF that preaches that raw talent is not enough. Practice makes perfect is the mantra constantly humming around the Sugar Loaf Mountain, as graphically illustrated by an article in this edition of FM. And as shown in yet another article, the treasure trove of talent gushing from the Maghrebi countries is simply the result of hard graft.
But good and productive work can only be carried out effectively if the circumstances are right. With this in mind, FIFA has been striving for over thirty years to strengthen its member associations and their football environment through clearly structured programmes. In the early days, the focus used to be on courses and seminars but nowadays, thanks to FIFA’s robust financial situation, there is a wide range of initiatives on offer to support and develop the associations.
These have been parcelled together within the scope of such initiatives as Win in Africa with Africa. In addition to certain projects such as laying at least one artificial turf pitch in various countries in Africa, FIFA has devised long-term plans to strengthen football throughout the continent as a whole in an effort to stem the tide of migration from Africa to Europe. These Talent and toi include professionalising the otganisational structutes not only of the associations but also of the leagues with regard to arranging matches and transfers and dispensing disciplinary measures.
Our sport thrives on the gamut of emotions and magic moments that only true genius can generate and such thrills are only rendered possible if we pursue systematic goals. In other words, what we are doing for the same, we are doing for the world.

In an appeal for sporting solidarity, on 7 February FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter urged Europe’s top clubs to consider favourably any requests to release players older than 23 years from the 16 associations that have qualified for the Olympic Football Tournament Beijing 2008. At a meeting with club representatives from all over the world as part of the FIFA Club Task Force, the FIFA President took the opportunity to broach this topic. While pointing out that the competition, to be played in Beijing and four other Chinese cities from 6 to 23 August 2008, was not specifically mentioned in the release provisions of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, Blatter appealed to the clubs to consider a flexible approach. “We are aware of our regulations,” he commented. “It is not compulsory to release players over the age of 23 for this competition. This is a matter between clubs and the associations. But players regard the Olympic Football Tournament as a highlight of their career and I hope that a solution can be found.” Club representatives noted in particular that the timing of the event – outside the international calendar -posed a problem for European clubs as, at that time, domestic leagues will be due to start again and qualification for the continental club competitions will be underway.