Your Excellency Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar,
Your Excellency Mr Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy,
President Gianni Infantino,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
It’s a real honour to be here. My thanks to the State of Qatar and to FIFA for the invitation to address you today.
We very much value our partnership with both Qatar and FIFA.
Qatar might be small in size, but it is large in stature
I especially thank Qatar for the role it has played in supporting WHO’s emergency operations in Afghanistan over the past year.
We very much appreciate Qatar’s support for protecting and promoting the health of people all over the world.
But I want you to know that we are also committed to protecting and promoting the health of the people of Qatar.
Earlier this week, I was delighted to open new WHO’s country office here in Doha, which will work closely with the Ministry of Health to further strengthen Qatar’s health system and work to address risks to the health of Qatar’s people.
Likewise, we are very grateful to Gianni and his team at FIFA for their ongoing partnership.
When I watched the last World Cup in 2018, I thought, “We need to find a way to use this platform to reach the world with messages that promote health.”
And so, the next year, 2019, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding with my friend Gianni to promote health through football.
Last year, we signed a partnership with the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar called “Healthy FIFA World Cup 2022 – Creating a Legacy for Sport and Health.”
I look forward to joining His Excellency Mr Al-Thawadi and President Infantino for the first meeting of the steering committee for our partnership tomorrow.
We appreciate the measures FIFA has taken to protect fans, players, coaches, and everyone else from COVID-19, in line with WHO recommendations, including at the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar, held here in Doha last year.
It’s now just 225 days until the World Cup kicks off.
Like billions of people around the world, I’m looking forward to the World Cup – not just for the football; not just because it’s the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East; but because this World Cup offers a real opportunity to leave a legacy for health
Our aim is to help make this year’s tournament healthy and safe for everyone –fans, staff, players and coaches – as well as the billions of people watching the tournament at home.
We also want to make sure that we learn lessons from this World Cup that we can use in other large sporting events.
I am grateful to FIFA and Qatar for sharing our goal to promote Health For All.
I urge every football federation to join us in this effort.
As national football federations, you can help us reach these goals by putting in place best practices to keep major football events healthy and safe;
By mobilizing your leading players and coaches to be advocates for change and health for all;
And by supporting our efforts to share advice, tips and guidance to football fans in your countries to help them be healthy and safe.
As the world’s most popular sport, football has incredible power to bring our world together – and I think you would agree with me that our world needs to be brought together.
The war in Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have both highlighted the divisions and inequities of our world.
More than 11 billion doses of vaccine have now been administered globally, and yet one third of the world’s population remains unvaccinated, including 83% of the population of Africa.
We can end the pandemic as a global health emergency this year, but only if we support all countries to vaccinate 70% of their populations by the middle of this year.
Today I have three requests.
First, for governments.
We seek your support for WHO’s global target of vaccinating 70% of the population of every country by the middle of this year.
This is essential for ending the pandemic as a global health emergency, preventing the emergence of new variants and driving a truly inclusive global recovery.
To do that, we call on all countries to pay their “fair share” in closing the urgent financing gap of 16 billion US dollars for the ACT Accelerator, to distribute COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments.
Second, for the football global community.
We seek your support to use the power of football on and off the pitch to inspire and mobilize the five billion football fans around the world, and the more than 13 million girls and women playing organised football.
We seek your support for the “Health for All” campaign so that we can reach more people before, during and after the World Cup.
And we seek your support for inspiring people to be more active, eat healthier diets and avoid tobacco.
And third, for all people – including football fans.
This World Cup, don’t just be a spectator. Use this as an opportunity to improve your own health, by moving more, eating better, and by taking precautions to stay safe from COVID-19.
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Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends.
At the World Cup in France in 1998, Paraguay’s goalkeeper, José Luis Chilavert, was asked by a journalist whether the team felt under more pressure now that they had reached the knockout stages of the competition.
“Pressure?” Chilavert answered. “This is just a football match. When you do not know how to feed your children, that is pressure.
Thirty-four years later, millions of people around the world still live with the pressure of just trying to stay alive.
Millions live with the pressure of disease;
Millions live with the pressure of insecurity;
Millions live with the pressure of inequity.
The World Cup is so much more than a football tournament – alongside the Olympic Games, it’s one of the biggest stages in the world.
It’s a platform like no other for bringing the world together, to work together for a healthier, safer, fairer and more sustainable future – for all of us.
I thank you.