Qatar and WHO team up for a healthy and safe FIFA World Cup 2022

Football legend Didier Drogba delivers a speech after being appointed WHO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health in Geneva on Monday. (AP)

• The three-year joint project, titled “Healthy 2022 World Cup - Creating Legacy for Sport and Health,”
• Ivory Coast great Didier Drogba was announced as a WHO goodwill ambassador to promote a healthier lifestyle

DUBAI: The World Health Organization (WHO) and Qatar launched a new multiyear collaboration on Monday to make Qatar World Cup 2022 a beacon for physical and mental health.
WHO and Qatar, working closely with FIFA, will undertake joint activities to place the promotion of healthy lives, health security and physical and mental well-being at the heart of world football’s pinnacle event, being held from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18 next year.
The three-year joint project, titled “Healthy 2022 World Cup - Creating Legacy for Sport and Health,” was announced at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.  
“WHO is committed to working with Qatar and FIFA to leverage the global power of football to help people lead the healthiest and safest lives possible,” WHO’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghrebreyesus said.
In addition, another critical goal of the project is to set and translate the best practices in health promotion, security and safety, as practiced at the Qatar 2022, for use at major sporting events around the world.
Dr Hanan Al-Kuwari, Qatar’s Minister of Public Health, said: “Our goal is also to hold the healthiest sporting event possible. It is for this reason we have teamed up with WHO.”
FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino praised the new partnership between Qatar and WHO, and said: “WHO’s new project with Qatar aligns perfectly with FIFA’s collaboration with both sides. Working together, we will harness the power of sports as a catalyst for a safer and healthier world.”
Ivory Coast great Didier Drogba was announced as a WHO goodwill ambassador to promote a healthier lifestyle.
“May we unite to be better prepared,” Drogba said, “and respond to future pandemics more collaboratively as we seek to tell the WHO narrative to global audiences in languages and platforms that are accessible to all.”