Chad inaugurates their very First FIFA Arena

School 15 in Koumra Gets a Grassroots Pitch Set Up by FIFA

Koumra, Chad – Wednesday, September 9, 2026 – Chad today inaugurated its very first FIFA Arena, a grassroots football pitch offering children a safe environment to play football.

Installed at School 15 in Koumra, this facility is the first of its kind in the country and gives the Chadian Football Federation (FTFA) a quality facility, joining the 142 FIFA Arenas already
inaugurated worldwide to date.

The Start of a Major National Youth Project

This inauguration marks the beginning of a large-scale commitment: the Chadian government has pledged to eventually install 23 FIFA Arenas across the country, one per region.

The Koumra FIFA Arena is therefore only the first step in a vast national project dedicated to Chad’s youth, aimed at giving children in every region equal access to safe, quality sports facilities.

An Infrastructure Serving Young People In Koumra, a city that until now had no other sports facility of this kind, the new FIFA Arena will benefit around 5,000 children. It will allow them to play football in a safe, accessible, and free environment.

Chad won’t stop there: a second FIFA Arena will be inaugurated in the country in the coming months.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by numerous dignitaries, including Mr. Naïr Abakar, Chad’s Minister of Youth and Sports; the leadership of the Chadian Football Federation and its members; Mr. Gelson Fernandes, FIFA Deputy Chief of Member Associations; Mr. Franciny Samba-Malanda, Regional Development Manager; and Ms. Karishma Inayat, FIFA Arena Project Manager.

“Every girl and every boy who wants to play football deserves to be able to do so in a safe place, where everyone can learn, play, and grow. That’s the whole purpose of the FIFA Arena project: to make sure that generations of children around the world, especially those from disadvantaged urban and rural areas, get the chance to enjoy and play the sport we all love.” — Gianni Infantino, FIFA President

“Talent is everywhere in Chad. Our responsibility is to give it a pitch to express itself on. With this first FIFA Arena in Koumra, we are launching a new momentum: giving our young people quality facilities to play, improve, and turn every pitch into a space for the future.” — Naïr Abakar, Chad’s Minister of Youth and Sports

“The refoundation of Chadian football requires concrete action for our youth. This first FIFA Arena in Koumra is proof of that: giving our children a safe pitch means laying another building block in rebuilding our football, from the grassroots all the way to the national team.” — Tahir Oloy Hassan, President of the Chadian Football Federation

“This first FIFA Arena oƯers the children of Koumra much more than a pitch: it’s a quality, safe, and durable facility that finally allows them to play football in the best possible conditions. And we are proud to inaugurate it here in Chad, a country where youth is at the heart of our priorities. This is exactly the spirit of the FIFA Arena project: giving every child, wherever they are, the chance to play, anywhere in the world.” — Gelson Fernandes, FIFA Deputy Chief of Member Associations, Regional Director for Africa and the Caribbean

The FIFA Arena Project: 1,000 Pitches by 2031

Officially launched at the 75th FIFA Congress in Asunción, Paraguay, in May 2025, the FIFA Arena project builds on the commitment made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the Sport and Sustainable Development Summit in Paris, aimed at expanding access to football worldwide.

With a goal of 1,000 mini-pitches by 2031, the program is being rolled out across FIFA’s 211 member associations, creating safe, accessible, and free spaces for children to play, particularly in the most disadvantaged communities.

Far more than simple pitches, FIFA Arenas are designed as inclusive community hubs that promote health, youth empowerment, and gender equality, and reaƯirm the power of football as a driver of positive social change.