A delegation from Kosovo have visited Gianni Infantino at the Home of FIFA and presented their vision for developing football infrastructure across the country, including the building of stadiums and training pitches. The delegation included the Minister for Culture, Youth and Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, the President of the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK), Agim Ademi, and the FFK General Secretary Taulant Hodaj. During the meeting, the FFK thanked the FIFA President for his support and the two sides promised to continue working together to develop men’s and women’s football at all levels in the country, which has been a FIFA member since 2016.

“The FFK will always be close to FIFA and will support FIFA in its own way, considering that FIFA has supported us since the beginning and since the acceptance of our federation into FIFA,” said Mr Ademi, who also congratulated Mr Infantino for the successful staging of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. “The football infrastructure and football in general has undergone an extraordinary rise,” he added. “The administration of Kosovo has actually become a professional administration now, thanks to the support of FIFA.”

The FFK has actively engaged with the FIFA Forward programme since the latter’s inception in 2016. Among other things, it has committed funds from the FIFA Forward project to the construction of artificial pitches for league clubs and a project for the implementation of VAR technology.

“I am proud of the opportunity that FIFA and UEFA have given me to organise the infrastructure, to enable the talent we have to get the basics: pitches, footballs, jerseys, so that they can develop their talent. This is my greatest source of pride, because now football is widely accessible in Kosovo,” said Mr Ademi. Mr Ademi also thanked Gianni Infantino for his visit to Kosovo in September 2022, saying it had encouraged the government to provide support and work together with the FFK. “In this case, it has increased our profile and it has increased the level of interest from our government,” he said. “For us, but especially for the media, the arrival of [President] Infantino was the most high-profile visit in 2022 to the state of Kosovo.” The FIFA President praised Kosovo’s vision. “It was a great meeting, and there is a fantastic project in Kosovo to invest in football infrastructure, to invest in youth in the future, to build new stadiums, training facilities, academies, for the girls and boys of Kosovo,” he said. “They will have the best infrastructure possible and at FIFA we are proud to be part of the team in Kosovo, together with the government and together with the federation to help build this infrastructure for the future.”