New place on the futnet map - Mali
Great news has arrived from Western Africa where a National Futnet Association has recently been founded in Mali thanks to the efforts of Mr Moctar Sow, a former player of Mali's national football team.
Mr Sow who is now working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been in touch with UNIF for several months. He was provided all the relevant information regarding futnet, its rules and regulations, its international structure as well as UNIF membership conditions. Mr Sow showed a great interest in promoting futnet in his country and with that aim, in setting up a national futnet association.
Thanks to his relentless efforts, a National Futnet Association or NTOOLA SARAMA has recently been set up in Mali. The importance attached to the creation of this new association is proved also by the fact that the Executive Board includes, among others, a former member of Mali’s National Assembly or a female FIFA international referee. All the corresponding documents regarding the association, including its Statutes and the composition of the Executive Board, are now under examination by UNIF Executive Committee. If approved, Ntoola Sarama Association could be admitted as UNIF member at the Annual General Assembly on 6 December in the Czech Republic.
Mr Sow's extensive experience with sports management in private as well as public sphere, among others as a Special Advisor to the President of Olympic Committee in Mali, gives us hope that Mali will soon become a member of our international futnet family.
During his recent visit to Europe, Mr Sow has met with the representatives of UNIF as well as French and Swiss Futnet Associations. Mr Jean Bernard Gaudino (left), from French Futnet Federation, has had a meeting on behalf of UNIF with Mr Sow in Marseille in which they spoke about the ways of future collaboration with UNIF, Mediterranean Futnet League and even a possibility of a convention between the city of Marseille and Bamako. Mr Sow received several futnet balls from UNIF which will, hopefully, soon start flying over the nets in Mali. Fingers crossed!