Gianni Infantino made three pledges to the International Summit on Sports for Sustainable Development in Paris, promising an illustrious audience of heads of state and sporting leaders that football will unite the world, that FIFA would continue to invest in football development and committing to build 1,000 mini-football pitches globally. "Nelson Mandela once said that if there is one thing on this planet that has the power to bind people, it is soccer,” said the FIFA President. "This… is exactly our mission: it is, it was and it will be. We want to unite, we want to unite in peace, we want to unite in passion, we want to unite in joy." He added: “FIFA is an association of 211 member states, member countries, member associations – more than the United Nations. We are all over the world, in every corner and we take this responsibility very, very seriously.”

The summit, organised by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), took place in the French capital on the eve of the opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and was hosted by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron and the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach. It brought together more than 500 participants, among them heads of state and government, leaders of international organisations, athletes and representatives of the sports movement and stakeholders from sports and development financing.

Mr Infantino said the summit was “a great opportunity to exchange ideas with world leaders on how sport and football, in particular, can make a positive difference”. He added: “FIFA is already leveraging football's global appeal to help support education, health, and the youth through a range of initiatives across the world. Today, I shall once more highlight FIFA's commitment through these activities and continue discussing our collaborations with different stakeholders to keep driving the sustainable development of football, everywhere and for everyone.” The FIFA President's first pledge was that "we continue to unite the world with football and with sport generally, as (IOC President) Thomas Bach and his team are doing – we are all doing in these Olympic Games and in the football tournaments”.

Secondly, he pledged that FIFA would invest over USD 2 billion in football development over the next two years in FIFA’s 211 Member Associations, to reach a total of USD 5 billion since he was elected FIFA President in 2016. He said this would include “projects like the (FIFA) Talent Development Scheme where we want to build 75 academies in 75 countries around the world, and in the FIFA Forward project, impacting competitions of girls and boys – millions of girls and boys, all over the world".

Finally, FIFA would install at least 1,000 mini-pitches across the world to further provide sustainable football infrastructure, particularly to support people living in disadvantaged inner-city or rural areas, thus enabling access to sport and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The FIFA President, joined on stage by FIFA Senior Football Advisor Youri Djorkaeff and FIFA Legend Jessica Houara, then made a further pledge to conclude his address: "Anyone in this room – or outside this room – who is listening to this, can make a pledge to build one pitch more and we will match every pitch that anyone here or anyone outside of this room wants to put together."