Stakeholders from education and football have met FIFA representatives and national government officials to lay out the legacy plan for the FIFA Arena project in Morocco.

In January, FIFA President Gianni Infantino signed an agreement with the Royal Moroccan Football Association (FRMF), the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco, and the OCP Group, a global leader in plant nutrition and phosphate‑based solutions, that will see the installation of 30 FIFA Arena mini-pitches across the North African country.

During a one-day workshop held at the FIFA Africa Office in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, attendees from the relevant government ministries, the FRMF and educational establishments explored how they can work with FIFA to ensure the 30 FIFA Arena sites can have a meaningful and lasting impact.

To situate the programme within the local academic and football context, participants saw presentations from Morocco’s education ministry, the FRMF and the OCP group, whose support will accelerate the implementation of the project following the inauguration of the first mini-pitch in the city of Meknes in November 2025.

A range of FIFA departments also made presentations in order to highlight the broad scope of initiatives that can be implemented thanks to the mini-pitches, notably FIFA Football for Schools and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme as well as the promotion of women’s football and health-related issues.

The FIFA Arena project was officially launched by Mr Infantino at the 75th FIFA Congress in Asunción, Paraguay, in May 2025 in response to a pledge he made at the International Summit on Sports for Sustainable Development in Paris in July 2024. The aim is for at least 1000 mini-pitches to have been installed globally by the time of the FIFA Congress in 2031.