President Hipólito Mejía received Joseph Blatter, president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) at the National Palace yesterday. With Blatter were Jack Warner, president of the Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation (CONCACAF) since 1990, Michel Platini, known as the best French soccer player ever, and Jerome Champagna. Minister of Sports Cesar Cedeño accompanied President Mejía for the occasion. The soccer officials arrived on Monday, 27 November in the evening and departed the next day in the afternoon. Blatter announced that the Dominican Football Federation has been allotted US$1 million from 1999 to 2002. The funds come from the television rights sold by FIFA for the World Soccer Cup. Blatter said that the country received US$250,000 in 1999 and is scheduled to receive the other amounts upon request. The FIFA spokesman also explained that the DR has been invited to participate in the Goal of the Future program to assist the development of the sport in the DR. In a press conference held at the end of his visit, he said he would request the assistance of the president of the Spanish soccer federation to recruit the coaches to prepare Dominican soccer players to participate in the sub-23, women’s tournaments and the Pan Am Games. (29 November 2000)
