With Qatar soon taking center stage in world sports, the World Health Organization and Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health are driving efforts to help make this year’s celebration of the “world game: soccer” a beacon for health and safety, and a launchpad to share lessons with major sporting events in the future.
Scheduled to take place in Doha from November 20 to December 18, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is a unique platform to promote health around the world and communicate that sport and health go hand in hand. They are intertwined and play together in a celebration of joy, well-being and solidarity for billions of people around the world.
Our partnership at Sport For Health has two main objectives: first, to work with key partners to help make the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East, healthy and safe; and second, capturing and sharing the lessons learned with our partners and organizers of other major sporting events.
Since the partnership, backed by FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy as part of a campaign to promote global health through football, began last October, we have worked closely together to promote physical health and well-being in various ways. These include promoting health and nutrition awareness during the holy month of Ramadan, participating in the third edition of “Walk the Talk: Health For All Challenge” in Geneva, and raising awareness of the harm caused by smoking in World No Tobacco Day.
By focusing on physical activity, healthy diets and nutrition, tobacco control, mental health and health security, we are working to provide guidance on how to help improve the physical and mental health of all people around the world. Through sport.
Our goals are ambitious and based on three key pillars: first, promoting health through strategic collaboration with governments and sports organizations, reaching billions of people through football and other sports; second, making major sporting events safe for fans, players and staff; and third, sharing information with the public to help them make healthy lifestyle choices.
The association is using this year’s FIFA World Cup to promote the health benefits of physical activity for all through sport by developing new tools to reach people of all ages, particularly young people. . As partners, we have been busy developing science-based guidance through technical engagement to communicate the importance of physical activity.
One of the key findings is that good mental health can often be linked to regular physical activity, including sports or simply walking and participating in physical activities with others. This can also help promote a sense of inclusion and community.
Whether you’re involved in high-intensity training or just gardening, every effort counts for a healthy body and mind. To further promote healthy living, we are underscoring the importance of nutrition by demonstrating the benefits of offering healthy food options at major sporting events.
Similarly, at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, smoke-free stadiums and a tobacco marketing ban will help protect people from this deadly product. The benefits of these measures will help promote and protect the health of sports fans at future major sporting events.
Finally, keeping sporting events safe through a commitment to health security is a fundamental pillar of the project.
From ensuring mass gathering protocols are in place outside and inside stadiums, to adhering to control measures to protect people from infectious disease outbreaks, we are committed to working with partners to ensure all necessary steps are taken to than sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup. , safe and secure.
As we all know, teamwork is essential for success in sports. The same applies to the protection and promotion of health. We are committed to continuing to strive together, for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar and beyond, to harness the global power of sport to help people live as healthy lives as possible.
