FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger has outlined the federation’s aim to have a recognised elite talent development academy in each of the 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs) by the end of 2027.
This, according to him, is to give every promising player a chance to flourish.
The former Arsenal manager made the announcement during the FIFA Football Summit 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Wenger aims at reducing the footballing disparities between different regions around the world and believes with the Global Academies Plan, the gap will be closed.
Already, 176 MAs have enrolled in the TDS – surpassing the stated goal of 150 for the year, set when applications opened in April 2023 – with FIFA having released USD 28 million in funding globally to provide the necessary support to youth development initiatives.
“I believe that we [are moving] very quickly from a society of work towards a society of sport, and football lovers have a big responsibility in that, to give every country a chance to develop our sport,” Mr Wenger explained to representatives of all FIFA MAs, adding that as part of his plan, their existing facilities may also be considered as part of the FIFA Academy standards process.
“Overall, we will communicate the FIFA criteria. When I say we have our own academies, we also have the academies that the federations develop themselves. And, if they respect our criteria, that means the quality of the identification of talent, the quantity of training sessions, the infrastructure – they can get to the FIFA Academy criteria.”
FIFA aims at creating equal level of opportunities for MAs all over the world to increase the regional competitiveness of members during global competitions.