Inauguration of a FIFA Arena pitch and launch of the FIFA Arena Kids Cup Morocco 2027

Benguerir (Rehamna Province) – The FIFA Arena program, launched in 2025 with the ambition of providing children worldwide with accessible spaces dedicated to playing football, reached a new milestone in Morocco with the inauguration on Sunday of its first pitch in the Rehamna Province, at the Omar Ezzahraoui School in Benguerir.

This new facility is the result of a partnership between the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), the OCP Group, through its subsidiary EVOSPORT, the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, Vocational Training and Skills Development, and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports.

In a video message broadcast on this occasion, FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated that the FIFA Arena program, launched at the 2025 FIFA Congress, aims to build at least 1,000 mini-pitches near schools and in underprivileged neighborhoods worldwide by the 2031 Congress.

“Every child deserves a safe place to play, because football offers so much more than the game itself,” he stated, commending Morocco’s commitment from the outset of this initiative. He also noted that the program includes the installation of 30 FIFA Arena pitches across the Kingdom, as part of the agreement reached in Rabat in 2025.

For his part, Abdelghani Filali, Managing Director of OCP SBU Mining, highlighted the OCP Group’s commitment to this initiative, which is part of a partnership aimed at promoting sports participation among young people and contributing to the development of local communities.

This program, he added, reflects the importance placed on providing children with local sports facilities, fostering their development and inclusion, while also helping to strengthen the link between sport and local development.

Similarly, Abdessalam Mili, Director of School Sports Promotion at the Ministry of National Education, Preschool, Vocational Training, and Skills Development, emphasized the importance of these local facilities in promoting sports participation in schools, as a means of fostering children’s well-being and developing their physical and social skills.

He further highlighted the role of school sports in identifying young talent and transmitting the educational values ​​conveyed by sport, particularly teamwork, respect, and pushing oneself to the limit.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, Mustapha Messoudi, emphasized the significance of this partnership in strengthening young people’s access to sports and cultural infrastructure.

He highlighted the importance of the combined efforts of various institutional stakeholders to promote children’s inclusion, encourage their participation in community life, and provide them with spaces conducive to their development and well-being.

The ceremony also featured the official announcement of the FIFA Arena Kids Cup Morocco 2027, a competition that will bring together young people from the first ten regions to have a FIFA Arena pitch out of the 30 planned under the partnership. The objective is to promote the practice of football and consolidate the sporting and social legacy of the FIFA Arena program within local communities.

The inauguration ceremony took place in the presence of, among others, the Governor of Rehamna Province, Aziz Bouignane, officials from FIFA, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), and the OCP Group, as well as representatives from the two partner ministries and legends of Moroccan football.

The day’s program also included local artistic performances and interactive workshops organized on the new pitch for children, in an atmosphere celebrating the values ​​of sharing, inclusion, and camaraderie embodied by football.