00:06FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the FIFA Africa office would have a global impact on football
00:12during the ceremony to mark its official opening in the capital of Morocco, Rabat, in 2025.
00:22The FIFA Africa office joins similar FIFA hubs in Paris, Miami and Jakarta,
00:28that underpin FIFA's aim of building stronger local links to its 211 member associations around the world,
00:36with the goal of facilitating football's growth globally.
00:45Today is a day that unites us and brings us together, here in Rabat, in the Mohammed VI football complex.
00:54It's an incredible and beautiful complex, and I want to start by thanking Morocco.
01:01Thanking His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and of course the Federation,
01:09led by my brother Fouzi Lekjar here in Morocco to develop football and this unique facility.
01:17This place is a lot more than just a sporting centre, a lot more than an academy.
01:26It is the nerve centre of Moroccan and African football,
01:34and as of today, a centre of Moroccan and African football.
01:39It is witness to a country that is looking into the future,
01:45to a continent that is looking into the future,
01:49and to the work that all of us do here for this incredible sport.
02:02It's a special day for FIFA, Africa is FIFA, the rest of the world is FIFA,
02:13and they couldn't have found a better place for the FIFA headquarters to be here,
02:20in a very special country for all of us.
02:23Let me start by expressing my deep personal gratitude,
02:28and I know I speak on behalf of the 54 African nations,
02:34to express our gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI,
02:38may God assist him,
02:40and a very special recognition and gratitude to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation,
02:48to our brother Fouzi for the good work that he's doing,
02:55to all the vice presidents, the CAF vice presidents who are here,
02:58and also a special recognition to every single president
03:04from the 54 CAF member associations.
03:09It's a great honour to have you here,
03:12and our brother Matthias,
03:16and you see I then leave our very special brother for dessert.
03:25Gianni is a very special friend of Africa,
03:31a very deep and committed
03:35and a loyal partner for Africa.
03:39Morocco is becoming an increasingly significant player in international football.
03:44The men's national team broke new ground in 2022
03:47by becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.
03:52The following year,
03:54the women's team reached the knockout stages of the FIFA Women's World Cup
03:57for the first time.
03:59Moroccan Administrator Fouzi Lekja is the first vice president of CAF,
04:04a member of the FIFA Council,
04:06and chair of the committee in charge of the joint candidacy of Morocco,
04:11Spain, and Portugal
04:12for the organization of the 2030 World Cup.
04:19Lekja is a close aide of Morocco's King Mohammed VI,
04:22guiding his investment in football,
04:24leading to nation-building projects like the state-of-the-art
04:28Académie Mohamed Siste de Foutbol in Saleh,
04:31which helped fine-tune the development of the likes of Nayef Agur,
04:35and Youssef and Nasiri.
04:41FIFA's presence in Rabat is a major signal
04:43to where the locus of power resides in African football.
04:51From this place,
04:53with this center that brings together not only the administration,
04:58but also the sporting side,
05:01we will be able to organize many events in Morocco,
05:05who is also the host of the Under-17 Women's World Cup
05:09for the next five years,
05:11and that too will leave a mark not only on Morocco and Africa,
05:17but on the whole world.
05:19We are uniting the world here in Morocco,
05:24and from this moment on, of course,
05:26we will also organize the 2030 World Cup,
05:30the second World Cup in Africa,
05:35co-hosted by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
05:40It will be the centenary World Cup,
05:42an incredible celebration in 2030.
05:45And here, everything is in place
05:48to make sure this celebration is the most beautiful we've ever seen.
05:52But to do that, of course, we have to work.
05:56We all have to work together,
05:58and I know that you are part of our team.
06:05The 2030 World Cup will be Morocco's fourth in a row,
06:10a run that now seems unlikely to pick her tail
06:13as the regional powerhouses blossom
06:15into a football nation of global significance.
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