FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his Somali Football Federation (SFF) counterpart Ali Abdi Mohamed have met at the FIFA office in Paris, where discussions focused on the growth of the game in the east African nation, where steps are being taken to improve their footballing infrastructure through the FIFA Forward programme. "Together with President Ali Abdi Mohamed, we had a detailed conversation about football's current situation in his country and the work that is being done to make the sport more accessible to everyone," said Mr Infantino.

FIFA Forward has supported Somalia with the upskilling of African association executives at the FIFA/CIES Football Executive Programme at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, as well as non-governmental organisations running football-related social development projects. "The SFF has already made very good use of funds from FIFA Forward, including the construction of a new headquarters, and we talked about the best ways of using the programme to support Somali football in the future," the FIFA President continued. "We also discussed the importance of providing playing opportunities for Somali national teams. "I also stated that FIFA will continue to support football development in Somalia and I look forward to continuing our work together."