Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga and Danny Jordaan of SAFA during the Special Announcement of LaLiga and SAFA Partnership at LaLiga Office in Johannesburg. (Photo by Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images)
La Liga president Javier Tebas and Safa president Danny Jordaan took centre stage at the presentation, which was held at La Liga offices in Johannesburg.
The agreement will allow La Liga and Safa to promote social integration, culture and social development in South Africa through sporting development and activities.
La Liga will help Safa develop the beautiful game all over the country, particularly in underprivileged and rural areas, by having La Liga experts train local coaches.
Another target defined in the agreement is developing women, schools and youth football throughout the country.
“We’re delighted to be in South Africa. When we opened our offices here, we said that we were here to stay. We’ll get used to seeing Spanish coaches and legendary former players in South Africa. We are currently close to sealing deals for one or two Spanish teams to come here.
“This agreement will also see our coaches come over to South Africa and we want to make the most of that by gaining information about talented players here who we intent to take to Spain to further develop their game; something that will benefit the players and the Association.
“La Liga is a global brand and it needs South African players,” Tebas said after the agreement.
Jordaan spoke passionately about the partnership and explained why this joint venture would go a long way in helping the Association realise its ambitious Vision 2022.
“The most important aspect for us is youth development. We want children to play football. We know very well that whenever you ask them which teams they love or support, they always speak of La Liga clubs.
“Apart from cooperating in football development, La Liga has invited a Safa delegation to visit Spain to learn more about their commercial and marketing exploits and see how we can implement some of these to grow our game,” said Jordaan.
The partnership between Safa and La Liga is part of growing the brand.
Other parts of the world that have seen such partnerships include Kenya, Japan, Nigeria, Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador, among others.
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