A $50 million soccer stadium might not have been the top priority for the people in Gaza who are eager to rebuild their war-ravaged region, but that unlikely venue was pledged during yesterday’s inaugural meeting of President Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington, DC.
ESPN reports FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, has offered to finance a stadium that will accommodate between 20,000 and 25,000 spectators. The organization also promised to create a $15 million FIFA academy, along with $2.5 million for 50 “arena mini pitches,” or soccer fields, and five full-sized fields costing $1 million each.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced his organization’s offer by declaring, “Football, or soccer, as it is called here, is the world’s universal language. It’s about hope. It’s about joy. It’s about happiness. It’s about coming together. It’s about uniting the world.”
FIFA has recognized a Palestinian national soccer team since 1998, but it has yet to qualify for the World Cup. Infantino also presented a video envisioning FIFA-launched soccer leagues in Gaza at youth, amateur and regional levels, with the goal of creating a “complete football ecosystem designed to support communities and future generations.”
“We don’t have to just rebuild houses or schools or hospitals or roads,” said Infantino. “We also have to rebuild and build people, emotion, hope and trust. And this is what football, my sport, is about.”
