A number of football legends are expected to attend the 73rd FIFA Congress to be held at the BK Arena, in Kigali, on March 16.
The FIFA Congress, the supreme legislative body of the Fédération Internationale De Football Association (FIFA), is meeting in Kigali and will be attended by about 2,000 delegates from 211-member associations and other football stakeholders.
The FIFA Congress will be chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
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It is during the congress that the FIFA presidential elections will take place. Infantino is likely to be re-elected after he was confirmed as the sole candidate for the position.
Former Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, who currently serves as the world football body (FIFA) Chief of Global Football Development, arrived in Kigali on March 12, and will be one of the many delegates expected at the high-level meeting.
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Besides the numerous other high profile guests such as Infantino, Wenger and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe, here are some of the celebrated football stars and legends in Kigali to attend the event:
Cafu
Marcos Evangelista de Morais, known as Cafu, 52, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, Cafu is regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, one of the best defenders ever to play in Serie A, and as one of the greatest Brazilian and South American players of his generation.
He is the most-capped player for the Brazil national team with 142 appearances.
At club level, Cafu won several domestic and international titles while playing in Brazil, Spain and Italy. Cafu is best known for his spells at São Paulo, Roma and AC Milan, teams with which he made history, although he also played for Zaragoza, Juventude and Palmeiras throughout his career.
Cafu is the only player in history to have appeared in three World Cup finals, both overall and consecutive, winning the 1994 and 2002 editions of the tournament, the latter as his team&039;s captain where he lifted the World Cup trophy.
Laura Stéphanie Georges
Laura Stéphanie Georges, 38, is a retired French footballer who is the Secretary General of the French Football Federation.
Georges began her football career playing for her hometown club Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 12. She last played for German club Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga. She served as the first-choice captain of her club and played primarily as a central defender, but was also used as a defensive midfielder. Georges was also a France women's international having made her senior international debut in September 2001. She represented her nation at seven major international tournaments; the 2003, 2011 and 2015 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship.
Georges later moved to the United States to attend Boston College where she majored in marketing and also played college soccer for the Boston College Eagles women's soccer team. In her first season, Georges featured in 13 matches making nine starts. In her second season with the team, despite missing matches due to representing France internationally, she was named to the All-ACC first team and also earned third-team All-America honors from the NSCAA.
She returned to France to join Olympique Lyonnais. She played in 16 league matches as Lyon were declared champions for the fourth consecutive season. In Europe, Georges was a part of the Lyon team that reached the 2010 UEFA Women's Champions League Final.
Samuel Eto’o
Eto’o, born on March 10, 1981, is regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time.
The Cameroonian football
A precocious talent, Eto'o moved to Real Madrid as a 16-year-old before signing for Mallorca in 2000 where he scored 70 goals. His impressive form saw him join Barcelona in 2004 where he scored 130 goals in five seasons and became the record holder for the most appearances by an African player in La Liga.
He is, among others, the second player in history to score in two UEFA Champions League finals. In 1998, he was the youngest participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup when he appeared in a 3–0 group stage loss to Italy on 17 June 1998, at the age of 17 years and three months.
Eto’o also played for Inter Milan, Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, English Premier League club Chelsea, Everton, Sampdoria, and others before he retired in 2019.
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily, 45, is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team.
Best known for his career at Chelsea, where scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time, Drogba was named Chelsea's greatest ever player in a poll of 20,000 fans conducted by Chelsea FC Magazine in 2012.
The Ivorian was also named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea's fans in 2020.
He is also regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time and was noted for his physical strength, speed, ability in the air, powerful and accurate strikes, and ball retention.
Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the award in 2006 and 2009. He is also the player with the most runner-up appearances (4), most third-place finishes (3), and most times in the top three (9).
Khalilou Fadiga
Fadiga, a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, began his career at Paris Saint-Germain in France, and later headed to Parisian club, Red Star, before moving to Belgian club RFC Liège.
It was in Belgium that he found the profile that was to launch his international career. After one season he moved from FC Liège to Lommel, which is now KVSK United. He played two seasons at Lommel before he was spotted by Club Brugge, where he quickly became a fan favorite – scoring nine goals in 67 appearances.
He played in 82 league games for French club, Auxerre, scoring 10 goals as well as appearing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup during season 2002–03. In his final season at Auxerre he helped them win the 2002–03 Coupe de France, playing in the final as they defeated Paris St Germain.
Fadiga moved to Inter Milan in the summer of 2003 and later, English club Bolton Wanderers signed Fadiga for the 2004–05 season, among others.
Pierre Achille Webó Kouamo
Eto’o’s compatriot, Pierre Webó, 41, is now the assistant manager of Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir.
The Cameroonian football manager and former professional player who played as a striker appeared with the country in two World Cups and in a number of Africa Cup of Nations.
He spent eight years of his career in La Liga, appearing in a joint 227 matches for Osasuna and Mallorca and scoring 47 goals in Spain where he also represented Leganés. He also competed professionally in Uruguay and Turkey.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
The 40-year-old Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker is among the stars in Kigali. Yakubu was one of Nigeria’s most fruitful strikers, with the former Super Eagles star netting 21 goals in 57 outings for the Nigerian national team.
He represented Nigeria at four African Cup of Nations finals, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the 2000 Summer Olympics, winning three Afcon bronze medals. He has appeared in over 250 Premier League matches for Portsmouth, Middleborough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers, and is the fourth-highest African goal scorer in Premier League history with 96 goals. The football star has featured for many teams across Europe with a record 172 goals in 428 club appearances.
Marcin Oleksy
Oleksy is a Polish amputee footballer, born on April 11, 1987 who plays as a forward for Warta Poznań and the Poland national amputee football team. He was the winner of the FIFA Puskás Award in 2022.
Until 2010 Oleksy played as a goalkeeper for Polish club Korona Kożuchów. In 2010, Olesky stopped his career to focus on working as a construction worker. In November 2010, Oleksy lost his leg in an accident at his workplace. In 2019 he started playing for Warta Poznań and in 2021 for the Polish national amputee football team.
Asamoah Gyan
Born on November 22, 1985, Gyan is a Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a striker for Legon Cities FC and is the former captain of the Ghana national team. He is the all-time leading goal scorer of the Ghana national team, with 51 goals.
Gyan represented Ghana at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 FIFA World Cups. With six goals, he is the top African goal scorer in the history of the World Cup.
He represented Ghana at the 2004 Summer Olympics and in seven Africa Cup of Nations in 2008, 2010, 2012,
Hérita N'Kongolo Ilunga
Ilunga is a retired Congolese footballer born February 25, 1982, who played as a left-back. At club level, he represented Espanyol B, Saint-Étienne, Toulouse,
Ilunga scored his first goal for his country in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Egypt in Cairo on June 1, 2008, though this didn’t hinder DR Congo from being eliminated from the competition at the second qualifying round stage.
Perpetua Nkwocha
Nigeria’s Super Falcons legend Perpetua Nkwocha was voted African Women's Footballer of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011 by CAF.
She is the coach of Clemensnäs IF from Swedish Women's Football Division 2. She previously played for Swedish club Sunnanå SK.
Nkwocha was also a member and formerly the captain of the Nigeria women's national football team.
With the Nigeria national team, Nkwocha participated in seven CAF Women's Championship editions (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), winning five of them (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014).
Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe
Radebe is a South African former professional footballer who played as a center-back. Radebe was born on April 12, 1969 and began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 matches for the Yorkshire side.
He became captain of Leeds United and also of the South African national team, most particularly at World Cup 2002.
Nelson Mandela said that Radebe was his hero.
In April 2003, for recognition of his efforts both on and off the field, Radebe was given the Contribution to the Community Award in the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards.
Kwadwo Asamoah
Born on December 9, 1988, Asamoah is a Ghanaian former professional footballer, mainly a left midfielder or left-back. He was also occasionally deployed as a central midfielder. On the international level, Asamoah was given his debut for the Ghana national team, Black Stars, in 2008, under French manager Claude Le Roy.
He represented Ghana in the 2008 and 2010 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, winning a bronze and a silver medal in particular tournaments, and later also appeared in the 2012 and 2013 editions.
He also played for Ghana at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014, helping them reach the quarter-finals of the former tournament. Asamoah announced his retirement from professional football on October 5, 2022.
Gaëlle Deborah Enganamouit
The Cameroonian footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Málaga CF and the Cameroon women’s national team was born on June 9, 1992.
She earlier played in the Serbian First League for Spartak Subotica, where she appeared in the UEFA Champions League. In the game for Spartak, Enganamouit purportedly scored the fastest goal in women’s football history, after two seconds.
At the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, she scored a hat-trick in Cameroon’s six to zero win over Ecuador. Her zeal and powerful style lead to her being known as the ‘Freight Train’ by Canadian fans. On June 9, 2020, Enganamouit announced the end of her career.
Portia Modise
She is a South African footballer who was named Player of the Championship at the 2006 Women’s African Football Championship. She was born on June 20, 1983, and represented the South Africa national team at the 2012 London Olympics. She became the first African player to score 100 international goals.
In 2005, Modise was one of two African footballers, alongside Perpetua Nkwocha, to be nominated for the Women's FIFA World Player of the Year, which was won by Birgit Prinz. On May 19, 2015, she announced her retirement from international football, after playing 124 matches and scoring 101 goals for South Africa.
Wesley Michael Brown
Brown is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, born on October 13, 1979. Brown’s career started with Manchester United, joining the club’s academy at the age of 12 in 1992.
Born in Longsight, Manchester, Brown began his football career as a schoolboy playing for the Burnage High School and Fletcher Moss Rangers, a Greater Manchester youth side, seven years later after gaining expertise, he made his senior debut in 1998 and became a semi-regular first team player during the 1998 to 1999 season, when the club won the Treble.
He won numerous honours, including four more Premier League titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup, and another Champions League. Brown earned his first England cap in 1999 and was selected to play at the 2002 World Cup.
Amanda Dlamini
Amanda Sinegugu Dlamini (born 22 July 1988) is a former South African soccer player.
She played for JVW FC as a midfielder and represented the South Africa women's national team at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
She made her debut for the senior national team in 2007 in a 5–0 loss to Nigeria in an Olympic qualifier. She was the top goalscorer of the 2008 Sasol Women's League.
She was part of the squads that won bronze and silver medals at the 2010 African Women's Championship and 2012 African Women's Championship; at the 2010 championships, she was named Most Valuable Player. She was captain of the national team between 2011 and 2013.
Jay-Jay Okocha
Augustine Azuka Okocha, 49, commonly known as Jay-Jay Okocha, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
He played 73 times for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scoring 14 times, and was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads. Okocha played across multiple leagues, starting his career at Enugu Rangers in the Nigerian Professional Football League before moving to Borussia Neunkirchen in Oberliga Südwest, Germany's third division in July 1990. He would play in the Bundesliga, Turkish Süper Lig, French Ligue 1, English Premier League, EFL Championship, and Qatar Stars League before his retirement in 2008.
Okocha joined Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991, where he linked up with many well-known players including Ghanaian international striker Tony Yeboah and later Thomas Doll. He later joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe following Eintracht Frankfurt's relegation to second division.
In 1998, French side Paris Saint-Germain spent around £14 million to sign Okocha, making him the most expensive African player at the time. During his four-year stint with PSG, he also served as a mentor for young Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho during his time in Paris.
Okocha joined Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer after leaving PSG in the summer of 2002 after the FIFA World Cup.
Youri Djorkaeff
The former French football player, Youri Raffi Djorkaeff, 55, played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Throughout his club career, he played for teams in France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States.
Djorkaeff scored 28 goals in 82 appearances with the France national team between 1993 and 2002. He won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, and the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, also taking part at Euro 1996 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
On hanging up his boots in 2006, devoted himself to social projects, which eventually led him to establish the Youri Djorkaeff Foundation in 2014. He currently holds the position of CEO of the FIFA Foundation, following his appointment in September 2019.
Djorkaeff started his career in 1984 with French club Grenoble, before moving to RC Strasbourg in 1989, AS Monaco in 1990, and then Paris Saint-Germain in 1995. In 1994, Djorkaeff led Division 1 in goals with 20. He won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with PSG in 1996.
In 1996, he signed with Inter Milan. In 1999, he transferred to Germany and Kaiserslautern, helping them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2001. Djorkaeff signed with English club Bolton Wanderers in 2002, and later transferred to Blackburn Rovers.
Pierluigi Collina
Pierluigi Collina, 63, a former Italian association football referee was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics six consecutive times from 1998-2003.
Collina is still involved in football as an unpaid consultant to the Italian Football Referees Association (AIA), the Head of Referees for the Football Federation of Ukraine since 2010, a member of the UEFA Referees Committee, and Chairman of the FIFA referees committee.
Collina attended the University of Bologna, graduating with a degree in economics in 1984.
During his teenage years, he played as a centre-back but was persuaded in 1977 to take a referee's course, where it was discovered that he had a particular aptitude for the job. Within three years he was officiating at the highest level of regional matches, while also completing his compulsory military service. In 1988, he progressed to the national third division, Serie C1 and Serie C2. After three seasons, he was promoted to officiating Serie B and Serie A matches.
In 1995, he was placed on FIFA's Referees List. He was allocated five matches at the 1996 Olympic Games, including the final between Nigeria and Argentina. He refereed the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
In June 2002, Collina reached the pinnacle of his career, when he was chosen for the World Cup final, between Brazil and Germany.
Christian Karembeu
Born in Lifou, New Caledonia, a French overseas territory, Christian Lali Kake Karembeu, 52, is a legendary defensive midfielder of the French football's "golden generation.” As a player for the national team, he became World Champion in 1998 and Champion of Europe in 2000, as well as the winner of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001.
He is currently the sporting director for Olympiacos.
Karembeu represented Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough, Olympiacos, Servette, and Bastia. He found much success on the national stage as well representing France. He was a vital part of the squad that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and featured in one match in France's victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign.
During his career Karembeu played for Nantes (1990–95), Sampdoria (1995–97), Real Madrid (1997–2000), Middlesbrough (2000–01), Olympiacos (2001–04), Servette Genève (2004–05), Bastia (2005–06). With Real Madrid, he won the Champions League in 1998 and 2000.
He announced his retirement on 13 October 2006.
Houssine Kharja
Houssine Kharja, 40, is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in France, he spent most of his career in Italy after starting out his senior career at Sporting CP, amassing Serie A totals of 117 games and 13 goals.
Kharja began his career with Paris Saint-Germain's youth side and in 1998 he joined Gazélec Ajaccio. In 2000 he joined the Portuguese side Sporting CP.
After only one season for Sporting, he joined Ternana in 2001. He played four impressive Serie B seasons for the Rossoverdi, gaining a place in the Moroccan national team, and being loaned to Roma in 2005.
In June 2012, Kharja signed a two-year deal with Qatari club Al-Arabi. In October 2014, he joined Sochaux on a one-year contract after playing 16 years away from his native France. In September 2015, Kharja joined Romanian defending champions Steaua București on a one-year deal.