FIFA President Gianni Infantino met with Eswatini Football Association counterpart Peter Simelane at the FIFA office in Paris, France to discuss to progress of the game in the African nation.

"It was a great pleasure to meet Peter Simelane, the President of the Eswatini Football Association (EFA), at the FIFA office in Paris today.

"We had a very constructive and open conversation about how FIFA can help develop football in Eswatini, especially through the FIFA Forward programme and the FIFA Talent Development scheme. President Simelane also told me of the plans to grow women's football in his country."

FIFA Forward supported the building of the state-of-the-art KaLanga Technical Centre in Siteki in 2019. The first FIFA Forward medicine course -- highlighting newest treatments for football-related injuries and tournament medical services and requirements -- was also implemented that year.

The FIFA Talent Development scheme aims to help member associations reach their full potential and ensuring that all talented players are given the chance to develop and be discovered, meanwhile.

"We further talked about what can be done to upgrade the stadiums in the country so that Eswatini can once again host international matches, which is something that would certainly bring joy to the football-loving people of this country," added Mr Infantino.

"FIFA is committed to helping all of its member associations and we will continue working with President Simelane and his team to keep developing our game in Eswatini."

"It was important to meet the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and I would like to thank him for coming from his busy schedule and having time for me and Eswatini," added Mr Simelane.

"Eswatini is a small country next to South Africa and FIFA has helped the country a lot, even in terms of infrastructure. In all the four regions, through the FIFA Forward project, we've managed to build stadiums for youth development.

Football has grown in popularity for a nation that has now reached the COSAFA Cup semi-finals four times, most recently in 2021, but there is still progress to be made.

"Football is played all over the country. So I was just briefing the FIFA President and also thanking the FIFA President in terms of the infrastructure, and also putting our challenges to him," explained Mr Simelane.

"Currently, we don't have a stadium which meets CAF of FIFA standards and I was just updating him on how far we have gone and also what we need to do so that we can meet the standards."