FIFA President Gianni Infantino and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed have agreed to work on plans to implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The leaders held a virtual meeting on Monday where they discussed shared priorities and the power of football.
The SDGs are a series of 17 global goals created by the UN in 2015 – the goals aim to achieve a more sustainable and better future and are intended to be implemented by 2030.
“The United Nations welcomes the collaboration with FIFA, particularly football’s potential in supporting the SDGs,” United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said.
“Our engagement is important to best identify how we can advance the Sustainable Development Goals not only at the global level, but also at regional and local level to ensure no one is left behind.”
The meeting also covered potential opportunities for the UN and FIFA to collaborate ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
“It is important for us at the new FIFA to be able to engage with the UN,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
“The new FIFA is a responsible body and a sustainable organisation. It is an organisation that is aware that football goes beyond playing competitions. Football is much more than that.
“FIFA strongly believes that through football, you can speak about everything, as it teaches children about values and rules, and we want to use football’s force for education.”
Monday also marked International Women’s Day and FIFA elaborated that it gave the two leaders a chance to reflect on football’s role in advancing gender equality and working on processes to safeguard from potential abuse.
FIFA and the UN have worked together on a number of collaborations in recent years. In 2019, FIFA and the UN teamed up to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle – while in 2016, FIFA was the first sports organisation to commit to a UN climate change campaign.
