The President of the Togolese Football Association (FTF) has thanked Gianni Infantino for FIFA’s help in improving the country’s football infrastructure and praised his work for African football.

The FIFA President met his Togolese counterpart Kossi Guy Akpovy in Paris, France, where they talked about future FIFA Forward projects in the West African nation, including a possible national technical centre, as well as providing more opportunities for women to play football.

Gianni Infantino praised Mr Akpovy’s leadership since the latter became the FTF President in 2016. “I have seen first-hand how his energy and intelligence have been beneficial for football in his country. His determination to deliver progress is admirable, and we discussed how the FIFA Forward programme can continue to fuel football infrastructure growth across all levels in his country,” Mr Infantino said.

“We also spoke about FTF’s collaboration in the FIFA project with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and how it can take Togolese football forward by empowering women and girls through increased opportunities to play the game we all love.”

The FTF is one of 16 organisations – three of them FIFA member associations – to receive funding under the Sport for Women’s Empowerment programme which is the result of collaboration between FIFA and the GIZ, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and is implemented by the NGO La Guilde.

Mr Akpovy said that FIFA Forward had already supported the installation of artificial turf pitches in Togo as well as the improvement of the FTF’s offices.

“These astroturf pitches mean our teams can now play all their league matches all year round. Today, without the astroturf pitches we built with the funding from FIFA Forward, we wouldn’t be able to play all our matches on grass,” he said. “We have been able to ask all the clubs to install either a grass or astroturf pitch so that our clubs have a pitch where they can train.

“I would like to thank Gianni [Infantino] because the FIFA Forward Programme has also allowed us to build facilities for our administrative teams,” he added. “In terms of administration, we have made interesting and positive steps forward. And now, it is clear to everyone that the Togolese Football Association has moved forward in the interest of everyone involved in football.”

Future projects were also discussed, including the technical centre. “We have already prepared a document and soon we will lay the first cornerstone to begin the construction works. This will represent an opportunity for young people and we will be able to use this project to foster talent. And, above all, to improve the performance of our young players so they can go further and ultimately be chosen for the national team,” he said.

“I would, once again, like to congratulate the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, who deserves a lot of credit for his work for global football, and especially African football.”