The FIFA Arena program, launched in 2025 with the aim of providing children worldwide with accessible facilities dedicated to playing football, has reached a new milestone in Morocco with the inauguration on Sunday of its first pitch in Rehamna Province, at Omar Ezzahraoui School in Benguerir.
The new facility is the result of a partnership between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), OCP Group, through its subsidiary EVOSPORT, the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Ministry of Youth.
In a video message broadcast on the occasion, FIFA President Gianni Infantino recalled that the FIFA Arena program, launched at the FIFA Congress in 2025, aims to build at least 1,000 mini-pitches near schools and in disadvantaged neighbourhoods around the world by the 2031 FIFA Congress.
"Every child deserves a safe place to play, because football offers much more than the game itself," he said, praising Morocco's commitment from the launch of the initiative and recalling that the program provides for the installation of 30 FIFA Arena pitches across the Kingdom, under an agreement signed in Rabat in 2025.
For his part, OCP SBU Mining Managing Director Abdelghani Filali highlighted OCP Group's commitment to the initiative, which is part of a partnership drive aimed at promoting sports among young people and contributing to the development of local communities.
He added that the program reflects the importance attached to providing children with accessible sports facilities that foster their personal development and inclusion, while helping strengthen the link between sport and territorial development.
The ceremony also featured the official announcement of the FIFA Arena Kids Cup Morocco 2027, a competition that will bring together young players from the first 10 regions to be equipped with FIFA Arena pitches out of the 30 planned under the partnership.
The initiative aims to promote football participation and strengthen the sporting and social legacy of the FIFA Arena program within local communities.
(MAP: 09 November 2026)
