Agreed by FA Chairman, Geoff Thompson, and CAF President Issa Hayatou at a meeting in London last October, and announced by the Chairman at the CAF Congress in January, the first workshop kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 17-19 April, focusing on Administration. This will be followed by a Strategic Planning Workshop for Coaches in Nigeria at the end of the year, a Referee Instruction Course in Kenya and a Marketing Workshop in Cameroon, both in 2003.

The FA delegation to South Africa was headed by Ray Kiddell, a Director and Vice President of The Football Association, who described The FA's commitment to assist African football development as "an important and exciting part of The FA's International Development Programme."

He also went on; "The FA has already worked hard to develop football in Botswana, Malawi and Lesotho through the UEFA-CAF Meridian Project; the four workshops fulfil a broader agreement with CAF, providing us with an opportunity to work with every national association, to share our expertise as well as to improve our own understanding of African football".

The first Workshop, entitled "Planning for Effective Football Administration", was held at the Crowne Plaza Sandton-Johannesburg. The event was officially opened by Issa Hayatou at a ceremony attended by members of the CAF Executive Committee. President Hayatou praised The FA's initiative as "a unique invitation". He said, "The FA is setting a magnificent example to other national associations by extending the hand of friendship to an entire confederation in this way. We are proud that CAF has this special relationship with the English FA and I firmly believe that not only does the English FA set a great example, but that many lessons can be learned from their example".

President Hayatou's address was supported by Danny Jordaan who commended the platform presented by the workshop as an opportunity for national associations to "work together to meet the challenges of the new Millennium, sharing ideas and experiences and learning from them".

The FA delegation also comprised Ms Jane Bateman, Head of International Relations, Mr Nigel Moore, Head of Planning & Training, and Mr Mark Ives, Regional Planning & Training Manager. It addressed a range of issues involved in establishing successful and effective administrative structures in a national association and will include Structuring an Administration Plan, Football Development Administration, Human Resources Planning, Marketing & Public Relations, Information Technology and Financial Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation.

Many of the delegates commended the workshop as an opportunity to air and discuss issues facing African football as a whole. Against this backdrop, delegates were able to gain an insight into the structure of English football and how certain principles could be adapted and applied in an African context. Kenneth Makhanya, CEO of the Swaziland Football Association welcomed the breadth of ideas presented by The FA "Why reinvent the wheel? The English FA is giving us a broad picture from which we can select the initiatives that have worked for them that can equally be applied to our own situation".

For Tidiani Niambele, the newly-appointed president of the Malian Football Federation, the Workshop could not have come at a better time. "One of my first obligations is to review the structure of our federation. Football Development and Human Resources are both central issues and the ideas this workshop is generating - both from The FA as well as from the other African associations present - will be hugely valuable to me".