FIFA praise fuels GDL’s ambition to grow, commercialise, and support other provinces

This comes weeks after the GDL was praised by FIFA as the leading development football platform in South Africa.

Speaking to SABC Sport last week, after the conclusion of the GDL top eight tournament, which precedes the kick-off for the new season, Nqandela says in the past few years they have seen the growth of the GDL and it’s now time to take it to the next level.

"If you look at the issue of GDL, Firstly we started it as just an ordinary league and it grew from strength to strength. Afterwards, we also developed what we call the GDPL, which is the Gauteng Promotional League of the GDL. Subsequent to that, we established a women's side, the GWDL, which is also doing well. Thereafter, we also went ahead in terms of broadcasting," said Nqandela

"What is very important for us now is to ask: how do we begin to commercialise the league and get more sponsors on board? At least we are now in a space where we have something that we can sell to the market."

The GDL has been a great platform for producing top talent in the country, including players who are playing in big leagues around the world, like Shandre Campbell, Ime Okon, Teboho Mokoena and Puso Dithejane, just to name a few.

FIFA High Performance Specialist Faisal Chibsah was left impressed after attending the GDL workshop recently and shared with SABC Sport how they would like to see this model replicated across the country. It’s something that Nqandela feels is achievable.

The GDL houses some of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams’ academies and top private academies in the province, but it also caters to some emerging academies through the GDL promotional league. Nqandela says they remain available to help other provinces to set up similar leagues.

Despite being the smallest province geographically and making it easier for teams to travel to matches, Gauteng is also the country's economic hub and is not short of resources like other provinces. The GDL is also the number one source of talent for SAFA junior national teams, and Nqandela says it’s important that solutions are found to improve development programmes throughout the country.

Nqandela is also looking forward to seeing Africa School Sport of Excellence competing strongly in the GDL this season, under the new management of Chipcor Developers. Formerly the School of Excellence, the school is one of GDL's founding members and has competed successfully in the past.