Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter and SA Football Association technical director Neil Tovey are scheduled to attend the FIFA Football Conference in London later this month where the latest trends in the game will be discussed.
The pair have been invited‚ along with their counterparts at all 211 FIFA members‚ to the September 23 event that will be attended by the likes of World Cup winning coach Didier Deschamps‚ England boss Gareth Southgate and German tactician Joachim Loew.
The coaches and technical directors will be given a presentation by FIFA’s Technical Study Group on their view of the World Cup in Russia‚ led in part by former Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
“The conference is a unique occasion and we have to make the absolute most of it‚” Parreira told FIFA.com.
“Sharing information and experiences is vital to the continued development of football‚ and there is no one better than coaches when it comes to giving opinions.
“The World Cup is always an opportunity to assess the state of football and new trends‚ the new things that come in and should be used again.
"The people who took part in it have something to say about the problems they faced‚ the things that worked and what they felt and saw.
“And the people who weren’t there can pick up that information. It’s a really valuable dialogue because everyone benefits from it."
Parreira adds that he is loath to compare eras because football is an ever-evolving sport and staying up with the newest trends is vital.
“You can’t compare different eras of the game and say‚ it was a more beautiful game before or it was more tactical before. There’s no such thing as more beautiful football or uglier football. Football changes.
“Possession of the ball is no longer a must. The teams [at the last World Cup] were more concerned with playing in smaller spaces‚ in staying compact and getting into the opposition half as quickly as possible‚ and they won as teams‚ with individual talents playing for their teams.”
Safa has confirmed to TimesLIVE that Baxter and Tovey are scheduled to travel to the conference.
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