This Saturday evening the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, in collaboration with FIFA, inaugurated the first FIFA regional office in North Africa in Rabat , Morocco.
The office, located next to the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Maâmora, aims to strengthen FIFA’s presence and support football development across the continent.
In December 2024 FIFA President Gianni Infantino sign agreement with Moroccan authorities to open fifa Africa office in Rabat and today was officially launched by the fifa President Gianni Infantino stated while addressing the media .Today’s certainly a wonderful day. It’s a special day, a glorious day, a joyful day.
We will write, in gold letters, the wonderful history of FIFA, of football in Africa, of football in Morocco, of football in the world. Today is a day that unites us and brings us together here in Rabat in the Mohammed VI Football Complex.
It’s an incredible and beautiful complex, and I want to start by thanking Morocco, thanking His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him for building this momentum.
We are a few days from Throne Day, a day that celebrates His Majesty’s 26th anniversary.
”“This sporting centre is a lot more than just a sporting centre, a lot more than an academy. It is the nerve centre of Moroccan and African football and, as of today, of World Football.
It is witness to a country that is projected into the future, to a continent that is projected into the future, and to the work that all of us do here for this incredible sport
.”“Today on 26 July 2025 in Rabat, we are inaugurating the FIFA Africa Office. I actually want to say that, when we’re in these magnificent places, that what we’re inaugurating here is the FIFA World Office. Because, as I was saying, from here, we will have a global impact on football. Not only in Morocco dear Fouzi [Lekjaa], not only in Africa, my dear Patrice [Motsepe], but all over the world, starting from here.”
“From this place, with this centre that brings together not only the administration but also the sporting side, we will be able to organise many events in Morocco, who are also the host of the [FIFA] U-17 Women’s World Cup for the next five years, and that too will leave a mark not only on Morocco and Africa but on the whole world. We are uniting the world here in Morocco. And from this moment on, of course, we will also organise the [FIFA] 2030 World Cup – the second [FIFA] World Cup in Africa – co-hosted by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
”“It will be the centenary [FIFA] World Cup, an incredible celebration in 2030. And here, everything is in place to make sure this celebration is the most beautiful we’ve ever seen.But to do that, of course, we have to work.
We all have to work together, and I know that you are part of our team. You’re all part of our team, you’re all part of the FIFA team, you’re all part of the winning team. Because together, we don’t just organise football, we don’t just play football – men’s, women’s, futsal, beach soccer – but we unite. We unite Africa, we unite the world.
We bring happiness to people, we bring joy to people, we bring smiles to people. And this is what makes the difference between what all of you here are doing and what everyone else is doing. It’s this joy, it’s this happiness.”“That’s why today is a historic day. It is a joyful day. It is a happy day. We are here to celebrate. We are here to enjoy, we are here to visit these beautiful headquarters of FIFA, here in Morocco, here in Rabat. And again, a big, big thank you.”
It’s very important for FIFA to be here, to be in Morocco, to be in Africa, to be, in fact, everywhere in the world, that’s what I was saying earlier too.
It’s true that in Africa there are 54 countries, 54 CAF and FIFA member countries, but it’s with the whole world. Morocco is now the leading country of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, it’s the leading country of the 2017 Women’s World Cup for the next five years, it has propelled Morocco onto the world football map.
It’s obviously also the leading country for the FIFA World Cup in 2030, the Centenary World Cup, it’s important for us to be here, it’s a country that has done a lot in terms of football development. In recent years, not just the semi-finals, obviously, the whole world had become Moroccan in 2022 in Qatar when we saw what this magnificent national team did.
But not only that, that’s not the result of chance, it’s the result of long-term work, by the president, by all Moroccans under the impetus of His Majesty, who is the real driving force of a country that has moved three speeds ahead of all others towards the future, we can see it, I was in different cities here in Morocco in recent days as well, we see what’s happening, not just at the level of football, but really at the level of society, of infrastructure, everything is ready, not only to organize the most beautiful party during the World Cup in Ville-Taronne, but everything is ready for this country to really be part of the great countries of the world in the future.
And that’s why FIFA must be here, for this Africa-FIFA office, but as I said, it’s the World-FIFA office, it must be present everywhere. This is a strategic hub for FIFA. It’s not just an administrative hub, we’re going to take care of the federations and development in Africa, which is obviously one of the priorities, but there are other priorities, it’s football, federal football, the development of football.
We have an academy, a center here, that we can use for young people, for trainers, for coaches, for referees, for medical personnel, we can do everything here. And that’s why we’re here. Morocco, obviously, will benefit, we thank them. Africa will benefit, but the whole world will benefit. We are going to project from here.
