Chad has become the ninth African member association to join FIFA’s Arena Project after the country’s first FIFA Arena mini-pitch was opened on Wednesday at School 15 in Koumra, in southern Chad.
Built for the Chadian Football Federation (FTFA), the facility is the first FIFA Arena in the country and takes the number of inaugurated venues worldwide to 142.
The Chadian government plans to establish 23 FIFA Arenas across the country, with one earmarked for each region. Koumra is the first location in that programme, and its new pitch is expected to provide sporting opportunities for approximately 5,000 children in a city that previously lacked a similar facility.
Chad’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Naïr Abakar, attended the inauguration alongside members of the FTFA leadership. FIFA was represented by Gelson Fernandes, Deputy Chief of Member Associations and Regional Director for Africa and the Caribbean; Regional Development Manager Franciny Samba-Malanda; and FIFA Arena Project Manager Karishma Inayat.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the initiative aims to give children in disadvantaged urban and rural communities around the world the opportunity to enjoy and play football.
Abakar said the Koumra venue could help make every pitch “a space for the future”. FTFA President Tahir Oloy Hassan described the project as a further step in rebuilding Chadian football, beginning at grassroots level and extending through to the national team.
Fernandes said the new arena in Koumra captured the central purpose of the programme: ensuring that children everywhere have the opportunity to play, regardless of where they live.
Alongside Chad, the African member associations that have received FIFA Arenas are Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Liberia, Morocco, Niger and Rwanda.
