FIFA President Gianni Infantino has visited Georgia where he met Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and saw at first hand the work that is being done to develop football in the country.

Georgian football is on the rise with the men’s national team this year reaching the round of 16 at UEFA EURO 2024 on their debut in a major tournament, while the women’s national team advanced to the play-off stage of the qualifying competition for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025. The country also co-hosted the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with Romania.

Mr Infantino was accompanied throughout the trip by Georgian Football Federation (GFF) President Levan Kobiashvili, a former player who won 100 caps for Georgia between 1996 and 2011. The FIFA President congratulated his GFF counterpart for the "fantastic work" which has been done and discussed future development plans.

On his first visit to the country as FIFA President, he also met the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, who, like Levan Kobiashvili, is a former Georgia international and twice won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan. In October 2024, Georgia Football Federation opened a new football centre in Samtredia, named after Mr Kaladze and supported by funding from the FIFA Forward programme.

The FIFA President visited the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium and also laid a wreath at the grave of David Petriashvili, a Georgian who was UEFA's senior project manager within the national associations division and who passed away in 2015.

“It was an honour to meet the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, along with the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, and Georgian Football Federation President, Levan Kobiashvili,” said the FIFA President.

“We discussed our beautiful game and I congratulated them for their nation's outstanding efforts both on the field and in development activities behind the scenes.

“PM Kobakhidze is a fan of football and I was delighted to receive his support as FIFA, together with the Georgian Football Federation, plans on further expanding the reach of our game to positively engage girls and boys at all levels in Georgia.”

The FIFA delegation also included FIFA Senior Football Advisor Youri Djorkaeff and FIFA Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov.

"The results of the Georgian women's and men's teams have been encouraging and they are a consequence of the hard work that is being done here,” Mr Infantino added. “FIFA is particularly delighted to be able to play a part in this wonderful journey, supporting development through the FIFA Forward programme and other initiatives."