FIFA and Qatar launch FIFA World Cup 2022™ Legacy Fund to drive groundbreaking initiatives with WTO, WHO and UNHCR

Following the announcement made in November 2022, Fifa is taking the implementation of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022™ Legacy Fund to the next level with an investment of USD 50 million in a series of social programmes in collaboration with Qatar and three global organisations, namely the the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

The objective of this fund and the multi-stakeholder partnership help Fifa deliver results beyond the pitch and support international organisations drive positive social and developmental impacts across the globe.

The groundbreaking initiative was presented and signed during an online meeting attended by Fifa President Gianni Infantino, WTO Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Secretary General H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi.

For the first time, the Fifa World Cup™ Legacy Fund will be invested in social impact projects in different regions across the following pillars:

Refugees: By partnering with UNHCR, the Legacy Fund will support programmes that empower communities and promote resilience and self-sufficiency for some of the world’s most vulnerable people with a view to enhancing access to basic services, improving social inclusion and strengthening national systems.

Public Health/Occupational Health and Safety: The Legacy Fund will foster initiatives that will build on the role played by the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 for promotion of health and wellbeing and will extend to improving working conditions. Fifa will join forces with WHO to support Beat the Heat, a flagship initiative to mount action to safeguard the health and safety of high-risk individuals from extreme heat and the related occupational and environmental hazards and impacts in the context of climate change.

Education: Together with the WTO and the International Trade Centre, Fifa will support the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund, which aims to economically empower women entrepreneurs by leveraging the potential of digitalisation to help them access global value chains.

Football development: Aspire Academy and the Fifa Talent Development Scheme, led by Arsène Wenger, will collaborate in identifying promising young talents in remote areas in a dedicated number of developing countries, with the objective of giving more talent around the world a chance to shine.

“The Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 Legacy Fund is a landmark project that builds on the unprecedented impact of the tournament from a sustainability point of view,” said Fifa President Gianni Infantino.

“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. I would like to thank the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organisation and the World Trade Organisation for their commitment to, and cooperation on, this historic initiative.”

The Legacy Fund will be implemented in close cooperation with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), based in Doha, Qatar.

“We always recognised the power of the Fifa World Cup to impact positively within our country, the region, and around the world and that to harness its unrivalled potential we needed to approach the event as far more than 28 days of football,” said SC Secretary General H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi. “It will always be remembered as a landmark moment in the history of our region. With this in mind, we wanted to enact legacy projects that would address issues critical to the region and to the international community as a whole. We look forward to working with our signatory partners today to utilising the power of football and the World Cup to contribute to improving lives within our region, and beyond.”

“Sport can be a powerful channel of hope and empowerment for marginalised individuals and communities,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “This fund will take the World Cup legacy beyond stadiums and screens to millions displaced by war, conflict and persecution. It will enable life-saving assistance and long-term opportunities for uprooted people, helping them rebuild safely and in dignity.”

“The worlds of sport and health must collaborate to create safe, clean and healthy environments for all people engaged in the preparation, delivery and legacy of mega sport events, including workers, athletes, spectators, and communities,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO looks forward to our continued partnership with Fifa and Qatar to continue building the health legacy of the World Cup.”

“This initiative builds on important lines of collaboration already established between the WTO and Fifa,” said WTO Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. “Through our Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund, this ground-breaking collaboration will help scale up capacity for women entrepreneurs seeking to use digital tools and platforms to access new opportunities and global value chains.”

A microsite has been specifically developed to provide further information on the Legacy Fund.