Brazil ready to help Kenya grow football, says Albuquerque
Silvio Albuquerque, Brazil's Ambassador to Kenya, (right) and Extreme Sports Chief Executive Hussein Mohammed at the Africa Football Summit on September 14, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The two-day football summit, which ends on Friday, has brought together stakeholders from all over the world.
Brazil has reached out to Kenya for a mutual partnership aimed at developing football.
Speaking on Thursday at the Africa Football Summit at a Nairobi hotel, Silvio Albuquerque, Brazil's Ambassador to Kenya, said he was ready to stimulate a mutually beneficial development plan between the two countries.
The two-day football summit, which ends on Friday, has brought together stakeholders from all over the world.
"In Brazil, football is a professional aspect of social life. The sport contributes 8 billion dollars (about Sh1.2 trillion) to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year," observed Albuquerque.
"In Kenya, like most of Africa, their is immense football talent and a passion by young players to become professional footballers. The mistake perhaps, is the belief that the collaboration (towards development) has to come from Europe. I'm ready to sit down for an interchange of what can happen straight away."
Extreme Sports Chief Executive Hussein Mohammed, who is a delegate at the summit, said the opportunity could be a game changer.
"Brazil reaching out to Kenya for a football program is a lifetime opportunity. We will take it up. Kenya needs such offers, then bring in other stakeholders including the government to develop a programme towards success," said Mohammed.
"From poor infrastructure, inconsistent development and bad governance, most African federations are struggling to reap benefits of an ever growing global football economy. These are some of the challenges we need to fix as soon as possible."
With five World Cup titles and currently ranked third on the 208-nation Fifa rankings, Brazil is considered the most successful football nation in the world.
The South American nation, which hosted the Fifa World Cup in 2014, has produced arguably the world's best players over time, notably Pele, Ronaldinho Gaucho, Rivaldo, Neymar Junior, Cafu, Dunga, Rivelinho, Garincha and Ronaldo.
Despite being the most popular sport in Kenya, football has struggled for success thanks to poor performances and returns on the pitch such as the national men's team's shock 1-0 loss to South Sudan in an international friendly in Nairobi on Tuesday, and Kakamega Homeboyz 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Libya's Al Hilal in a Caf Confederation Cup clash last month.
Besides, football in Kenya has been marred by indications of a lack of vision and strategy, a lack of enabling infrastructure, plus consistent squabbles between football administrators and the government.
Brazil enjoys a successful partnership ship with Kenyan volleyball owing to the seconding of coach Luizomar de Moura who was seconded by the Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) to Kenya, and helped the national women's volleyball team win the African title last month and secure Africa's sole slot to the 2024 Olympics.
Prior to switching base to Nairobi, Moura won the World U18 and U20 titles with Brazil.
