FIFA has joined forces with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to look at ways of using football to promote economic inclusion, particularly in the developing world. The partnership is spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala where the two sides agreed to collaborate by exchanging views on their respective activities and by preparing and implementing common strategies and projects.

“I'm really excited at the prospect of collaborating with FIFA to try to leverage the cotton sector in a positive way for poor developing countries such as the Cotton 4,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in reference to the WTO’s cotton programme in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali which will is included in the partnership. “I'm really excited that collaboration with FIFA could help us pull these countries more into the global cotton value chain." “I'm also thrilled at the prospect of working on gender empowerment. We have a big sports economy, and to the extent that we can pull this through trade to support women, this is a positive signal,” the WTO Director-General added.

“FIFA redistributes its revenue among our 211 member associations to help them develop football in their countries by notably investing in infrastructure, facilities, competitions, refereeing and coaching,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Yet, we believe that there is still more than football can do, especially for the youth in the developing world. This important partnership can help us find ways of ensuring that football can further promote sustainable development for everyone to benefit from the global football economy.” Under the terms of the MoU, the two organisations will also work together to analyse the economic impact of football and its role in unlocking global economic growth potential and will explore options for the development of capacity-building activities that support the use of football as a tool for women economic empowerment.