PARIS (WAM)
Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), has made three pledges to the International Summit on Sports for Sustainable Development in Paris, promising an illustrious audience of heads of state and sporting leaders that football will unite the world, that FIFA would continue to invest in football development and committing to build 1,000 mini-football pitches globally.
The summit, organised by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), took place in the French capital on the eve of the opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and was hosted by the President of France Emmanuel Macron and the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach.
It brought together more than 500 participants, among them heads of state and government, leaders of international organisations, athletes and representatives of the sports movement and stakeholders from sports and development financing.
Infantino said the summit was "a great opportunity to exchange ideas with world leaders on how sport and football, in particular, can make a positive difference."
He added that FIFA is already leveraging football's global appeal to support education, health, and the youth through a range of initiatives across the world.
The FIFA President's first pledge was that "we continue to unite the world with football and with sport generally, as (IOC President) Thomas Bach and his team are doing – we are all doing in these Olympic Games and in the football tournaments."
Secondly, he pledged that FIFA would invest over $2 billion in football development over the next two years in FIFA's 211 Member Associations, to reach a total of $5 billion since he was elected FIFA President in 2016.
He said this would include "projects like the (FIFA) Talent Development Scheme where we want to build 75 academies in 75 countries worldwide.
Finally, FIFA would install at least 1,000 mini-pitches worldwide to further provide sustainable football infrastructure, particularly for people living in disadvantaged inner-city or rural areas. Thus, FIFA would enable access to sport and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.