NEWS
How Mozambique FA evolved from SA varsity player to administrator
Mozambique FA General Secretary (GS) Hilário Madeira is among rare football figures on the continent to have evolved effortlessly from being a footballer to an administrator.
The story of the 32-year-old, probably the youngest FA GS in Africa, dates back to his youth football days in Mozambique’s coastal city of Beira circa 2004.
It was while he was launching his football career at Ferroviario da Beira youth team that his career fortunes turned for the better.
At 14, he earned a scholarship to study at a college in South Africa. He was then about to go into grade 10 in high school.
“I went to further my studies on scholarship at the Vaal University of Technology for four other years,” Madeira told FARPost.
The bright lights of South Africa did not dim Madeira’s love for football. He found himself playing for the university football club.
“I played football at youth competitions for School of Excellence and University Football League for the Vaal University of Technology,” added Madeira.
It was only after graduating that he entered the professional football ranks upon his return back home to Mozambique.
He ventured into what turned out to be a successful career owing to his versatility in playing as a centre-back, right-back and even holding midfielder for Vilankulo and then CD Maxaquene from 2013 to 2014.
Madeira went on to represent Mozambique at the under-17, 20 and 23 levels before going full circle to turn into an administrator recognized by COSAFA AND CAF.
“I played in for the Under-17 at the Zone VI Games in Namibia in 2005, Under-20 AFCON qualifiers and Cosafa in 2008, Lisbon Lusophony Games 2009 Under-23 and All-Africa Games in Maputo 2011,” Madeira said.
He eventually called it time on his playing career to apply the football management skills he had acquired while studying in South Africa.
Madeira joined Mozambique Football Federation in 2015, and since that year, he rose through the ranks to become GS.
MADEIRA’s DREAM IS TO…
During international tournaments for CAF and COSAFA, Madeira serves as a General Match Coordinator.
His role is to ensure that games occur as per international football regulations and standards.
The young man, who is as fluent in speaking Portuguese as he is in English, remains modest when asked about his ambition in football administration.
“My dream is not personal goals but to contribute positively to Mozambican football,” Madeira said.
Most administrators, who have played football in the professional ranks, find the transition to football management challenging to handle.
Not with the firstborn in a family of two children who says he hardly has time to miss the thrills that came with playing football.
Madeira said he was too busy developing football strategy, meetings, travelling and managing the in-tray and out try to imagine, let alone miss playing football on the pitch.
Madeira said he was focusing on the administrative side of the game.
“I only work with football; when free, I look up other sports like basketball,” he told FARPost.
Madeira’s evolution from being a player to an administrator proves that combining a football career with pursuing an education is always a wise thing to do.
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