16 April 2008
VIDEO: Fabio Capello in Lesotho

See footage of England Manager Fabio Capello as he visits Africa with an FA Delegation and takes in a training session.

England Manager Fabio Capello was given a warm welcome to Lesotho on Tuesday afternoon as he and an FA Delegation arrived in Southern Africa.

Capello was accompanied by Ray Clemence as they reached the Lesotho FA's headquarters in Maseru, where they were greeted by a song and dance from the locals. 

Once there they watched a training session involving local school teachers and pupils in the capital.

The session was the first stage of the two-day trip to Lesotho, one of The FA's three partner countries in Africa along with Botswana and Malawi, as they continue their three-year development plan to assist the countries in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Capello and Clemence met with FA coaches Geoff Pike and Peter Ford to observe them taking the training session. They both clearly enjoyed the day and Capello believes it is important that he supports the work being done.

Capello said: “This is a worthwhile scheme and I feel it is important I’m seen not only on TV but also on the pitch supporting serious and worthwhile projects like this one.

"It is really good to be here and to see the children play and to see the English coaches train local coaches to do a job that will be very important and will bear fruits a bit further down the line."

He added: "It is very important. Our trainers have been here for six months already, so it's a job in progress. This is not just an advert, this is serious work we want to carry out here."

The FA hopes that by the time the World Cup kicks off, as many of Lesotho's teachers as possible will have taken The FA Level 1 Coaching Course and will be able to pass on good quality coaching to local young people.

After the coaching sessions, Capello and Clemence headed inside the headquarters where they took part in a ceremony to present gifts and kit to the Lesotho FA.

On Wednesday the delegation will visit a festival run by Kick 4 Life, a charity that uses football to fight poverty and disease - especially HIV and AIDS which affects so many people in Africa.

The FA delivers at least two projects per year to its three partner countries and has been active in each for over ten years.

The FA has delivered a wide range of courses in each country, ranging from football administration, refereeing, youth coaching to women’s football.

Lesotho is also one of many sub-Saharan African countries ravaged by the HIV virus which is conservatively thought to infect around a third of its population.

Stay logged on to TheFA.com this week for all the coverage of the visit.