On Wednesday April 17, Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, welcomed Joseph Blatter, president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), who was on a working visit to Cuba.

Raúl and Blatter discussed the development of football in Cuba and the FIFA-supported projects that have been implemented over the last few years, including staff training, professional development for trainers and referees, competitions, and the reparation of several sports facilities.

Also present in the meeting were Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers; José Ramón Fernández, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee; Christian Jiménez, president of the Cuban Sports Institute, INDER; Jeffrey Webb, FIFA vice president and director of CONCACAF Confederation (North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football); and Jérôme Valcke, FIFA secretary general.

After a 13 year absence, Sepp Blatter returned to Havana and, at the conclusion of his visit, reported happily that he had noted the flowering of a passion for football in Cuba - very much in line with his efforts to promote the "universality" of the sport, since he assumed the FIFA presidency FIFA in 1998.

During his administration, the World Cup was held for the first time in Asia (Japan-South Korea, 2002) and in Africa (South Africa, 2010), while plans are underway for the first in Latin America, with Brazil, 2014, and then Russia and Qatar, two regions with very different traditions which will have their first opportunity to organize football’s most important event.

What most impressed the 77-year-old Swiss advocate of the sport was the "solidarity" with which the Cuban government supports its development in the country, by training coaches and teachers, in addition to including football in the school curriculum.

"This is not common. Football, more than a sport, is also a school of life. That is why we think Cuba has so much to teach," he stated, referring to a pilot program he would like to undertake based on Cuba’s experience, to present at the next FIFA Congress, especially relevant for smaller federations.

The convergence of this national effort, and programs implemented by the international organization, has borne fruit, he emphasized, as evidenced by the Cuban under-20 team’s qualification for the World competition to be held in Turkey next June – a first for Cuba.

Traveling with Blatter was Jeffrey Webb, head of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, who held a lengthy discussion with Luis Hernández, president of Cuba’s Football Association, about holding a tournament final on the island in the near future.