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Leaders of the national football federations of Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe signed the creation of the Union of Portuguese-speaking Football Federations last Saturday, May 21st, in Lisbon, Portugal.

The purpose is to bring Portuguese-speaking federations closer together and establish common goals in the development of football in Portuguese-speaking countries, carrying out exchanges with the aim of promoting the productive arrangement of the most practiced sport in the world in all categories and modalities.

The creation of the new organisation was proposed by CBF’s president Ednaldo Rodrigues, and was inspired by the Constitutive Declaration of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) and highlights the desire to jointly explore the economic potential of the Portuguese language and the creative industries associated with it, in the field of football.

FIFA Master alumni Pedro Trengrouse (FMA’04), from Brazil, and Muhammad Sidat (FMA’15) from Mozambique, attended the ceremony and played an important role in the creation of the new association.

We talked to Muhammad Sidat, following the creation of the new organisation.

FMA: Why is the creation of the União das Federações de Futebol de Língua Portuguesa important? What does it want to achieve?

Muhammad Sidat: The creation of this entity is an historical step for the Portuguese-speaking football family, as this is the first organization of its kind that bonds the football associations of Portuguese language recognized by FIFA, who between them share historical roots and identity.

The purpose of creating this entity is to bring the Portuguese-speaking football federations closer and establish common goals in the development of football as a group and in the respective countries, sharing and providing exchange platforms with the aim of promoting football in all categories, areas and modalities. 

The focus of this organisation will be the creation of competitions from youth to senior levels, for men and women, training of administrators, courses for coaches and referees, exchange programmes and other football development activities. Within the scope of this partnership between the Portuguese-speaking football associations, several other areas will be explored, with emphasis on the technical programmes, marketing, administration, licensing, communication, sports law, and exchanges in different levels of football, futsal, and beach soccer.

Ultimately, the creation of the entity "União das Federações de Futebol de Língua Portuguesa" will enable the member associations to better defend their interests, whether in the relationship with FIFA, other international organisations, and with local governments.

FMA: What role did you and Pedro Trengrouse play in the constitution of such organisation?

MS: First, we would like to say that we are both very proud and honored to have actively contributed to this project which resulted in the constitution of the "União das Federações de Futebol de Língua Portuguesa". Pedro and I have been in contact periodically to align the necessary steps and details towards the acceptance of this entity from the side of the Portuguese-speaking football associations representatives.

Pedro was an instrumental figure in his role as the advisor to the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF) President, being part of the process of preparation and submission of the proposal for the creation of the organisation to the sister football associations. I, on the other hand, through my role at the Confederation of African Football (CAF), continental body that encompasses five of the represented Portuguese-speaking football associations, helped with the linking of ideas and consensus towards the creation of this union, while also proposing the areas of development and cooperation from the African perspective. 

Both of us are delighted of this first achievement, and now we will continue to work together, each one in its role and capacity, to deliver and achieve concrete results in this organization for the development of football in our Portuguese speaking football associations.