FIFA: Football for Schools outfits produced in African countries in the Coton-4+ group

The official uniforms to be worn by pupils and teachers as part of FIFA’s Football for Schools programme will now be manufactured in the five cotton-producing countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, the international federation announced during the launch of its educational programme in Cameroon on 25/03/2026.

"At the 13^th World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in February 2024, the FIFA president (Gianni Infantino) had said apparel for FIFA programmes would be sourced from C4+ countries as one of the next key steps within the Memorandum of Understanding he signed with WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in September 2022," the world body said.

"A vital cash crop for the C4+ countries, cotton produced there is among the most sustainable in the world. However, most is exported as a raw material rather than finished product. FIFA’s use of C4+-produced apparel in its programmes means the field-to-fabric cycle is completed within those countries, helping them gain a greater share of the sport apparel market, whose global revenue is estimated…