Football Seychelles’ football joins Team Musiala tournament initiative |11 August 2021
The press conference in full swing (Photo: Thomas Meriton)
Children will soon have opportunities to showcase their inner talents and skills through a new tournament which will also give exposure, as well as inspire young players to be a part of the sport at the highest level.
Set up by Bayern Munich and Germany international player Jamal Musiala, the Team Musiala Tournament Initiative was officially unveiled locally yesterday during a press conference at the Maison Football, Roche Caïman.
In the presence of the chairman of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Elvis Chetty, SFF’s secretary general George Bibi and executive members, along with Dr Carol Nalletamby (a family member to Jamal), Jamal Musiala’s mother, Caroline, noted that both parties share the same future goal.
She explained that the initiative will give Seychellois children the opportunity through football to create the life they want as it provides meaningful programmes and ideas, while it also gives young people tools to empower themselves and to create the future they would like to have.
An important message shared by Ms Musiala was about values, which she described as very important, as they affect our decision makings, including choices and future.
She added that through football, the kids can take all the experience with them onto the pitch and put it into practice later on.
She also noted that they successfully hosted the tournament in Southampton last month and is confident that the same can be achieved here with a similar impact, but only with the maximum participation of kids.
Ms Musiala also noted that since former Seychelles international midfielder Kevin Betsy made a huge impact on her son’s career, they are now happy to make something good for his country.
On behalf of the SFF, Mr Chetty thanked Ms Musiala for thinking of Seychelles and Jamal for willing to partner with the SFF and to think of the Seychellois kids.
He noted that it is part of the federation’s strategy and vision to encourage the development of children from grassroots level up to youth level, giving them the opportunity if they wish tomorrow to dream of becoming professional footballers.
He added that the partnership is a huge boost towards the process and she can rest assured that the SFF will endeavour and facilitate the tournament.
Mr Chetty also agreed with Ms Musiala that values are the cornerstone for building young professionals for the future.
According to Mr Bibi, everything in terms of logistics is in place to begin the tournament, but they are still waiting on the Ministry of Health which is yet to set a date to lift the ongoing restrictions on local sports due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that the SFF is ready to collaborate with the health authority by observing all the protocol and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place.
Mr Bibi also noted that football should not be penalised if other team sports are not up to the necessary standards when it comes to SOPs.
He is urging the health ministry to rethink and revisit, and be selective in its decision, allowing those who are in accordance with the regulations to resume their activities.
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Young professional Jamal Musiala
Born on February 26, 2003, Jamal Musiala is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team.
Born in Germany to a British-Nigerian father and German mother and raised mainly in England, Musiala represented both Germany and England at youth level, and eventually pledged his allegiance to the Germany national team for future games in February 2021, representing the side at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020.
In July 2019, aged 16, Musiala left Chelsea to join Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. On June 3 2020, he made his professional debut, coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich II in their 3-2 win over Preußen Münster in the 3. Liga.
On June 20, 2020, he made his Bundesliga debut against Freiburg, and became the youngest player to play a match for Bayern in the Bundesliga, aged 17 years and 115 days.
On September 18, 2020, Musiala scored his first Bundesliga goal in an 8-0 win over Schalke, to become Bayern's youngest goalscorer, aged 17 years 205 days, breaking the previous record of Roque Santa Cruz, aged 18 years 12 days.
On November 3, Musiala made his Champions League debut as a substitute to Thomas Müller in a 6-2 away win over Red Bull Salzburg.
On December 1, he started his first Champions League match in a 1–1 away draw against Atlético Madrid.
On February 23, 2021, Musiala scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–1 away win over Lazio in the first leg of the round of 16 tie, becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer of both English and German nationalities.
On March 5, he signed his first professional contract at Bayern Munich until 2026.
Compiled by Roland Duval