LAUSANNE – Fifa launched a US$50 million (S$67 million) legacy fund for social programmes on Nov 27, in collaboration with 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar and the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
In November 2022, world football’s governing body had promised the legacy fund from 2022 World Cup proceeds would be used to help “some of the most vulnerable people in the world”.
“Fifa is taking the concept of a legacy fund to the next level in terms of reach and impact by tackling key priorities such as refugees, occupational health, education, and football development,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said.
Revenues from previous World Cups have been put into legacy funds for the host nation to use for the development of the game and the US$50 million corresponds to approximately 1 per cent of the commercial revenue raised around the 2022 World Cup.
Fifa said it would team up with WHO to support its “Beat the Heat” initiative to safeguard the health and safety of high-risk individuals from extreme heat.
Qatar came under intense pressure over its treatment of foreign workers working in extreme conditions, leading many to raise concerns, although the Middle Eastern country has denied that workers were exploited.
Partnering with UNHCR would help refugees by “enhancing access to basic services”, Fifa added.
“This fund will take the World Cup legacy beyond stadiums and screens to millions displaced by war, conflict and persecution,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“It will enable life-saving assistance and long-term opportunities for uprooted people, helping them rebuild safely and in dignity.”
Fifa also said it would help to “economically empower” women entrepreneurs by supporting the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, which was launched by the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC) earlier in 2024.
The ITC said the legacy fund has pledged US$16.6 million to the WEIDE Fund, with an initial deposit of US$5 million.
On the football front, Qatar’s Aspire Academy and the Fifa Talent Development Scheme led by Arsene Wenger would collaborate in identifying young talent in remote areas in developing countries.
However, Amnesty International said the fund does nothing for families of migrant workers who died or were exploited when building Qatar’s stadiums for the World Cup.
“In failing to provide funding to compensate workers and their families for the severe harms suffered in Qatar, Fifa is blatantly disregarding its own human rights policies,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport.
“(Fifa) is likely to be ignoring the conclusions of its own commissioned report – which is yet to be published. As long as Fifa continues to bury its head in the sand, workers and their families will continue to suffer the consequences.”
In 2022, Amnesty and other rights groups had led calls for Fifa to compensate migrant workers in Qatar for human rights abuses by setting aside US$440 million, matching the World Cup prize money.
At the World Cup in Doha, Infantino said a workers’ support and insurance fund set up in 2018 by Qatar had provided compensation of more than US$350 million to workers in cases mainly related to non-payment of wages. REUTERS
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MDDI (P) 048/10/2024. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2024 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.
