{"id":14223,"date":"2025-10-31T06:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T04:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/fifa-president-to-visit-botswana-in-boost-for-football-developmen\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:26:52","slug":"fifa-president-to-visit-botswana-in-boost-for-football-developmen","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/fifa-president-to-visit-botswana-in-boost-for-football-developmen\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA President to visit Botswana in boost for football developmen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The imminent visit of FIFA President Gianni Infantino to Botswana on November 10 and 11 marks a significant moment for the country\u2019s football ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to Botswana Football Association (BFA) President Tariq Babitseng, the visit represents more than a courtesy call, it is \u201ca strong vote of confidence in Botswana\u2019s football leadership\u201d and a chance to explore strategic partnerships for the sport\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Babitseng said Infantino\u2019s trip follows a series of high-level engagements initiated after he assumed the BFA Presidency, aimed at strengthening collaboration between the national association and world football\u2019s governing body.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He added that the BFA hopes to host a FIFA youth development programme as a pilot project in Botswana, noting that such initiatives require coordinated support from national stakeholders to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Infantino\u2019s visit is expected to include meetings with government officials, football administrators and development partners, underscoring FIFA\u2019s commitment to expanding grassroots football across Africa.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14224,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-14223","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The imminent visit of FIFA President Gianni Infantino to Botswana","published_date":"2025-10-31 08:15:32","news_description":"The imminent visit of FIFA President Gianni Infantino to Botswana","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18981,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14223\/revisions\/18981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=14223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}