Sport Impact Summit: "$1.25bn invested in African football by FIFA since 2016" (Fatma Samoura, FIFA)

"Since the inception of the Forward Programme in 2016, our financial support to the beneficiaries of the African continent is $1.25bn (€1.17bn), of which about $120m (€112m) has been invested in football infrastructure across 48 countries and including 169 new football pitches," said Fatma Samoura (SEN), secretary general of FIFA, in Dakar (SEN) on 05/11/2023.

Samoura spoke during the "Sport Impact Summit", the first "Sport & Development" summit to be held in Africa (in Dakar, from 05 to 07/11/2023). The event was organised by the pan-African hub Sport Impact, in partnership with UNESCO and the Senegalese authorities.

"After laying the foundations through infrastructure, Forward funds have been used to organise the game: 50 new competitions have been launched, with girls and women representing more than 25% of the total number of players," explained Fatma Samoura, who is due to leave her post at FIFA on 31/12/2023.

"Established in 2016 when Ms Samoura joined president Gianni Infantino at FIFA, the Forward programme has since provided FIFA's 211 member associations with funds to…