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Gelson Fernandez has been appointed as the Regional Director of the FIFA Member Associations Division for Africa. This former Swiss midfielder of Cape Verdean origin will have to follow the activities of the African confederations.
FIFA caused a surprise on 6 April 2022 by announcing the appointment of Gelson Fernandez, a former Swiss player of Cape Verdean descent, as the Regional Director of FIFA’s member associations division in Africa.
Fernandez, born in Praia in 1986 but raised in Switzerland, partially takes over the previous positions of Veron Mosengo-Omba, the current head of the administration (General Secretary) of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Mosengo-Omba was already FIFA’s Regional Director for Africa and the Caribbean between 2016 and 2018 before taking the lead in Zurich.
As of August 1, 2022, Gelson Fernandez” He will be responsible for overseeing the services to promote the development of the African Member Associations through the future programme [d’investissement et de développement, Ndlr] from FIFA refers to the example in a press release. We are excited to see Gilson join the FIFA teamin response to its president, Gianni Infantino. After a brilliant career as a player, he gained experience that would allow him to brilliantly perform his new mission. “.
Management experience in Switzerland
Gilson Fernandez ticked several boxes: he is a Swiss national, polyglot (German, English, French, Portuguese, etc.), has a degree in management and has experience in driving. Since June 2021, he has served as Vice President of Sion, the club where he trained and where he made his professional debut in 2004.
The defensive midfielder then traveled extensively in Europe, passing through England (Manchester City and Leicester City), France (Saint-Etienne and Rennes), Italy (Chievo Verona and Udinese), Portugal (Sporting), Portugal and Germany (Freiburg and Eintracht) where he ended his football career in 2020.
His relationship to Africa? The person in question asserts that it is strong: “ When you are an African, like me, you have to accept a proposal like the one that was given to me because it is the best way to give back what he gave me for Africa. To be honest, I feel obligated to work for Africa and football. »
In an interview with Le Temps newspaper, he explained in August 2021: “ I did an internship at FIFA, in the service of the President, and had the opportunity to be appointed there. In May 2021, Gilson Fernandez visited, for example, George Weah, the former African football legend and President of Liberia, along with Gianni Infantino and the FIFA staff. The kind of trip that would become the everyday life of the man who wore the Swiss shirt 67 times.
