RIYADH: A delegation led by Yasser Al-Misehal, president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, concluded a three-week European trip, where they met with football’s key stakeholders, including governing bodies, federations and confederations from around the world. The tour included visits to Wales, the Netherlands, France, the UK and Spain.
As the football season concluded in Europe, the representatives of Saudi football commenced a European trip to attend meetings, events, workshops, conferences and tours of leading state-of-the-art football facilities. The delegation also included SAFF General Secretary Ibrahim Al-Kassim, SAFF Technical Director Nasser Larguet and SAFF Senior Advisor Hicham El Amrani.
As part of SAFF’s strategy to grow football in the Kingdom, the federation met key member associations from across the world to build relationships, benchmark strategy and understand best practice. The Saudi delegation met the presidents of FIFA, CONMEBOL, UEFA and CONCACAF, as well as representatives of football federations and associations from Wales, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Panama, the US, Qatar, Mali, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
“This trip serves multiple objectives for the Saudi football movement, as we look to share football knowledge and experience with our counterparts around the world,” Al-Misehal said.
“Saudi Arabia is undergoing a huge transformation across its football landscape,” he added, which involves expanding competitions, developing women’s football and “driving the growth of football on a global level.”
“As we continue to progress with the Saudi Football National Transformation Strategy, we can benefit from the experiences of federations who are ahead of us in different aspects,” he said. “This could help us to be better equipped as we look to develop our game at every level, including infrastructure, science, innovation, technology and governance. We are also keen for the world to know more about Saudi football, which continues to play a leading role on the Asian continental level, and we have solid plans in place and ambitions to grow and develop beyond that.”
In Wales, the Saudi team took part in the National Coaches Conference, during which they learned more about the latest coaching methods being adopted across all age groups. While in the Netherlands, at the KNVB’s headquarters in Zeist, the Saudi delegation was introduced to the latest innovations in the field of neuroscience, dietary standards and general medical science. A tour highlight saw the SAFF delegation hosted at the INF Clairefontaine training base in France, where they received an extensive tour of the campus and its facilities.
The European tour concluded in Spain, where the national team was also present to initiate the first phase of their preparation program for the World Cup. While there, the team faced two high-profile friendlies against Colombia and Venezuela. Both games, held at the Nueva Condomina Stadium, ended in narrow 1-0 defeats for the Green Falcons.