|
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION: The Football Association in Mauritius took birth in 1945 under the appellation of the Curepipe Sports Committee, becoming the Mauritius Sports Association (MSA) in 1952 and the Mauritius Football Association (MFA) in 1984, with the advent of the Sports Act. The founder members of the Curepipe Sports Committee were :
Other existing Football Clubs at that time and which were based in P.Louis, were :
They were admitted as Associate members to the C.S.C and few months later the Hindu Cadets Club as well joined, as such. IMPORTANT DATES 1952 - The MSA was established with the main objective of promoting football in the country. All members admitted were only Football Clubs, and its statutes were inspired from the Football Association’s (FA) handbook. However, since Football was the only money earner, and there were no other source of money for the promotion of sports in these days, the Mauritius Sports Association readily accommodated quite a number of sports through Sports Commissions which were affiliated to it, and financed the activities of these various Commissions.
In 1954 - The 1st English Football Team – Burnley came to Mauritius for a friendly match. At that time, FOOTBALL was played on a playground in Curepipe known as “Stade Barry” belonging to the Municipality of Curepipe and which was located at the same place where the New George V Stadium is located today. However, there were only some wooden stands on both sides, to accommodate spectators. Highly encouraged by the Burnley experience, the Association decided to consolidate its base and better equip itself. A major stepping stone in the history of the Association was the construction of the King George V Stadium which started in 1954, on the same land mentionned above, obtained on lease from the Municipality. As there was no funds for construction, the “Compagnie Jacques Noel”, a private company was approached. An agreement was reached with the Company on the condition that all 1st division matches are played exclusively there and that 80% of gate receipts after deduction of match expenses be paid to the Company.
1955 - The King George V Stadium Ex. ‘Stade Barry” was ready and competitions started.
1956 - Incident between the Dodo and Fire Brigade Clubs.
1958 - The MSA obtained its affiliation with the FA – Football
1961 - Football being very popular and attracting more and
1962 - The MSA received world recognition by being affiliated to FIFA.
1963 - Affiliated to CAF, the ‘Confederation Africaine de Football’
1965 - The MSA acquired the rights of the Compagnie Jacques Noel. The then Secretary General of the Association Mr. Ram Ruhee played a key role in the negotiations with the company.
1966 - Year of National Pride for our football. 1st participation in the African Cup of Nations
1968 - Football banned due to riot problem in the country
1969 - Football re - started
1974 - National Team qualified for the 1st time for a final phase of
1980 - The withdrawal of the DODO club from the MSA. 1980 - Opening of the first 20 ecoles de football throughout the country with the financial support of the Ministry of Youth
and Sports. 1982 - Change of names of clubs which had communal appelation
1982 - Sponsorship for Football, This gave a boost to the clubs for consolidating their structures and enabling clubs upliftment. 1984 - A turning point in the Sports scene of the Country, was the
introduction of the Sports Act in 1984. Thus, the Mauritius Sports Association became the MAURITIUS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, having as sole activity football. Its other sports commission became independent Federations in their own right as prescribed by the Sports Act. 1985 - Organization of Indian Ocean Islands Games. Another important contribution of the Government was the payment
of airfares, board and lodging where necessary for teams participating in official competitions outside Mauritius. From that laudable initiative of the Government, since 1988 our Champion Team is regularly participating in the African Cup of Champion Clubs Competition and from 1995 our Cup Winner team has started playing in the African Cup of Cup Winner’s Competition, now known as the Confederation Cup. 1986 - Setting up of 13 Regional Football Committees, in conformity, with the Sports Act 1984. 1988 - The first Mauritian team, the Cadet club, participated in the African Cup of champion clubs. 1991 - The Association granted authorization to clubs to recruit foreign players up to maximum of 02.
1992 - The Racing Club de Maurice withdrew from the Association. 1994 - The Cadets Club represented Mauritius in its first participation in the African Cup of Cup Winners 1994 - The lease of the King George V stadium came to term and the government decided to reacquire ownership. 1996 - A hard blow for the football family The temporary closure of the King George V Stadium, due to defect in the existing structures. 1997 - The stadium was reopened and we received the Paris
St. Germain for a friendly match. 1999 - On 23 May 1999, following incidents during and after the game between Scouts Club and Fire Brigade football was banned in the country. This decision of the Government did not even authorize our National Team to play in Mauritius. We had therefore to go to Reunion Island to play against the Gabon National Team in the frame of the African Cup of Nations and was also forced to play home and away matches against the Egyptian Team on the soil of Egypt for the World Cup 2004 qualifying round.
2000 - After September 2000, the suspension was waived and football
2003 - We won the gold medal for the second time in the Indian Ocean Islands Games in Mauritius. 2005 - The MFA sold its premises in Port Louis and established its Headquarters at the MFA House, Trianon, the new compound of the Goal Project I financed by FIFA on land obtained on lease from the Government.
2006 - Creation of 4 Regional Technical Centres 2007 - The « Centre National de Formation » becomes the Centre National de Perfectionnement Parallel with these developments, the Administrative Section of the Mauritius Football Association evolved as well. After, its creation in 1952, the Mauritius Sports Association rented an office space in 1963 in Port Louis. It then had only a Secretary and later a Secretary Typist. This set up has since changed considerably. After being a tenant at Cathedral and Mallfille Streets, in 1988 we became the only federation owning our premises, in Chancery House, Port Louis. The Mauritius Football Association is actually employing 8 persons on a full time basis in the Administrative Section. |
Mauritius Football Association |
|
MEMBERS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
