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Sports Reporter
THE World Football Summit scheduled for South Africa has become the latest casualty of the ravaging coronavirus after organisers of the event scheduled for Durban next week were forced to cancel the global forum.
In a statement issued earlier today WFS organisers said they would now work on new dates for the event pencilled in for March 17-18 had been shelved.
“In the light of the ‘COVID-19’ outbreak, which has been officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), we have been forced to take the difficult decision to postpone the celebration of WFS Africa, scheduled for March 17-18 in Durban, South Africa.
“After closely monitoring the evolving coronavirus outbreak and assessing the risk to our visitors, we have concluded, together with the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, our Main Partner, that this is the only way to guarantee the well-being of all our visitors.
“During the last few months we have strived to put together an event of the caliber that the African football industry deserves. We were extremely excited with our first-ever African summit and looking forward to welcoming the continent’s most relevant leaders and stakeholders. This decision is heart-breaking for the WFS team.
“We want to thank all our speakers, business partners, exhibitors, delegates and members of the media for your enthusiastic support and apologize for any inconvenience caused.
We would also like to underline the solid leadership demonstrated by the South African government and the crucial guidance provided by our Main Partner, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government.
“We look forward to continue growing our partnership in order to build the best possible platform for the African football industry to meet. We will keep monitoring the situation closely while exploring options to reschedule WFS Africa for July-August 2020 depending on the global evolution of the outbreak. Further details will be confirmed as soon as possible,’’ read a statement from the WFS.
A number of clubs including Italian giants Inter Milan had confirmed participation at the summit.
“Inter Milan is joining WFS Africa through Inter Campus, who will be hosting an Industry Talk to showcase how they use the values of sport as an education tool. Inter Campus has been giving back the “Right To Play” to thousands of needy children around the world since 1997. Inter Milan strengthens the roster of top clubs taking the stage in Durban, which includes France’s Olympique de Marseille, Senegal’s Diambars FC, Tanzania’s Simba SC, and South Africa’s Cape Town City FC or Mamelodi Sundowns, among others,’’ read an earlier statement from WFS.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter