FIFA Legend Kaká returned today to Zurich, the city where he was recognised as FIFA World Player of the Year in 2007, for his first visit to the Home of FIFA.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup winner met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and held discussions with various FIFA experts to get an insight into FIFA's overall work on matters such as football innovation, digital transformation and media operations.
"I came to FIFA because I'm eager to learn first-hand what it takes to organise world football. This is a very complex and exciting task given the fact that football is played all over the world. The complexity of organising the world's most popular sport is something you don't get to see during your playing career as the competitions are only one dimension of FIFA's mission. Over the past years, football has been changing enormously. For instance, in my playing times digitalisation was not what it is today. I was excited to see how FIFA is embracing all these changes through its competitions and daily activities," said Kaká, who has been investing in his education since he hung up his boots, having recently received his diploma from the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Sports Management organised in Brazil by the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).
"We must maximise the impact that football has on people's lives and this is something where the FIFA Foundation led by Youri Djorkaeff plays a key role. Throughout my career, I've always supported that cause and I will be happy to contribute further to projects and initiatives in that direction as part of the FIFA Legends programme. As a matter of fact, I'm delighted to have been invited to Lebanon this weekend to participate in the start of a pilot project for FIFA's Football for Schools programme, which is run by the FIFA Foundation."
Kaká also took time to visit the FIFA Football Museum, where he once again took a glimpse at the FIFA World Cup that he lifted in 2002 with the Seleção.
"I played at several FIFA competitions, but seeing the organisation behind the scenes is of course very different. I didn't know that FIFA now has about 1,000 employees from nearly 60 different nationalities. These are people from all over the world who are passionate about football, which also include many fellow Brazilians. It was a pleasure to meet with FIFA experts from different divisions such as Digital Transformation and Innovation, Tournaments and Events and Communication," concluded Kaká.
