FIFA provides financial and logistical support to its 211 member associations through a variety of programs designed to promote the development of football worldwide. This support is essential for the implementation of projects and initiatives that seek to improve sport in all corners of the planet. We review some of the most notable work that has been carried out during September which promote, strengthen and make football truly global.

FIFA has launched Suspect and Protect: No Match is Worth the Risk, a concussion awareness campaign, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the fact that concussion is a traumatic brain injury and is a risk to every player on the pitch. It has been endorsed by players, coaches and team doctors from around the world. Developed through extensive consultation with FIFA Medical and WHO brain health experts, the Suspect and Protect campaign aims to increase sign and symptom recognition among players, coaches and medical staff, as well as the general public. The campaign highlights that symptoms may take up to 72 hours to appear and offers guidance on how to return to play safely following a suspected or confirmed concussion. These tailored resources are designed to empower national team stakeholders, professional clubs and leagues and grassroots and amateur communities.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino highlighted the crucial role FIFA’s Member Associations (MA) Division plays in making football truly global at a three-day workshop for the division’s collaborators at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

Seventy members of the MA Division gathered at the Home of FIFA to not only forge closer personal and professional ties, but also exchange and reflect on the division’s journey so far, its future direction and look closely at what President Infantino referred to as the “three core focus areas in terms of working with our key stakeholders”: development, competitions and infrastructure.

With 11 regional development offices around the world from Auckland, New Zealand, to Christ Church in Barbados and Johannesburg, South Africa, to New Delhi, India, the MA Division is coordinated from its base in the French capital, Paris, after becoming the first FIFA division to be located outside of the organisation’s Swiss base.

The South African Football Association, in collaboration with FIFA's Talent Development Scheme (TDS), hosted the second edition of the TDS U-15 Interprovincial Tournament at Panorama Football Club in Honeydew, Roodepoort, in September 2024.

The first edition of the tournament played a major role in the formation of the now active U-17 men's national team that will represent South Africa at the COSAFA Championship later this year.

The second edition of this tournament benefited the next generation of U-15 players, with boys and girls from the nine provinces of South Africa taking part in this year's tournament. The U-15 Inter-Provincial Tournament has become an important platform for identifying and nurturing young football talent from across South Africa.

Zambia's next generation of talent also took part in a FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) tournament in Côte d'Ivoire, facing teams from Morocco and South Africa. Other participants included Tanzania, Egypt and the young Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire.

In order to support even more people around the world through football, FIFA has concluded an agreement in principle with the Homeless World Cup Foundation (HWCF). The HWCF organises annual Homeless World Cups for men and women to help homeless people improve their lives.

As part of goal number 6 of its 2023-2027 strategic objectives for global football, FIFA has committed to supporting the Homeless World Cup Foundation and its World Cup by providing material and equipment (medals, trophies, etc.) and broadcasting the event on the FIFA streaming platform FIFA+.

Since 2003, 1.2 million homeless people around the world have benefited from the annual Homeless World Cup by representing their country in this unique four-a-side tournament.

Around 450 players from 44 countries were taking part in the two women's and men's tournaments, which kicked off on Saturday 21 September in the Korean capital Seoul and ended on 28 September.

Mauritanian football has scored a major innovation with video-assisted refereeing (VAR) used for the very first time in a Super D1 match.

“The launch of VAR technology marks a major turning point for the development of soccer in Mauritania,” explains Jemal Sevir, FFRIM Executive Director and head of the VAR project.

This historic step is the culmination of a long and rigorous implementation process, involving both the technological aspect of the tool and referee training, with numerous seminars and workshops leading up to a final evaluation in August 2024 under the guidance of FIFA experts.

Also in Mauritania, a tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed in September between the Ministry of Education and Educational Reform, the FIFA Foundation and the Mauritanian Football Federation, to enable the country to benefit from the FIFA Foundation's Digital Education Program.

“Mauritania is the first Arab and African country, and the third nation in the world, after Belize and Paraguay, to benefit from this program. This testifies to the great confidence our country, through the Mauritanian Football Federation, enjoys with international sporting bodies and partners”, emphasised FFRIM President Ahmed Yahya.

The All India Football Federation organised a four-day FIFA capacity building workshop for coaches, conducted by FIFA experts Simon Toselli and Stéphanie Spielmann. This workshop is an important part of the Indian Women's League (IWL) development, which falls under FIFA's broader women's football development program.

The workshop was attended by 25 coaches (19 women and six men) from the Indian Women's National Teams, IWL and IWL-2 clubs and various other stakeholders. “Women's football is an area where we have tremendous potential to progress at the international level. But to achieve this goal, we need real leadership training,” said Shri Kalyan Chaubey, President, All India Football Federation.

“We should be able to identify at least 200 talented women footballers in the age group of 17 to 23 years and train them under the leadership training program. These players need to be given proper training and more playing time if we are aiming for the 2030 Asian Games or the 2029 AFC Women's Asian Cup.”

Women's football also took centre stage in Ghana. A six-day capacity building workshop was held at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, organised by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in collaboration with FIFA as part of the implementation phase of the association's women's football strategy.

Jennifer Amankwa Sarpong, Head of Women's Football Development at the GFA, said the association is on track with the implementation of the women's football strategy and reiterated the association's commitment to the development of women's football across the country.

In a short presentation, she spoke about the mission and vision and outlined some of the achievements of the six pillars since the launch of the strategy.