As the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 nears the semifinals, excitement is growing and fans are praising a number of the tournament’s distinctive aspects.
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and World Health Organization (WHO) are leading efforts to make the world’s celebration of football a platform for health and safety as Qatar takes center stage in global sports. The goal is to leave a legacy for sport and health for other countries hosting future mega sporting events.
Total tobacco ban inside stadiums and availability of 30% healthy food and snack options, make this a healthier FIFA World Cup. Besides, messages about health promotion, food safety and access to care are relatively more visible during this World Cup.
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“With several initiatives such as no smoking and no drinking at the World Cup stadiums as well as healthy food in the stadium will help people to follow the idea of healthy lifestyle,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently.
“This World Cup is a pathfinder in sports and health joint initiative and this will help billions of people around the world to follow healthy lifestyle,” he said during the first Walk the Talk Doha: Health for all Challenge.
Several health promoting activities are being held by MoPH and WHO, within ‘Sport For Health’ partnership and in collaboration with FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC).
“World Cup encourages adopting healthy life style. I took part in the Walk the Talk Doha and it motivated me to start walking daily,” said Aaseeyah, a Palestinian resident during a match screening at Education City’s Oxygen Park.
Layla, a Syrian resident said, “Many healthy and safe steps are being implemented during the World Cup and we hope such actions will be taken as an example by other countries also.”
Health Through My Lens, a photography exhibition which highlights people’s unique interpretation of what health means to them. The exhibition is an initiative of the ‘Sport For Health’ partnership and hosted by Qatar Foundation in Oxygen Park.
One “Friendship Bench” has been placed in each of the 32 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 participating nations’ respective precincts, which are important Doha landmarks. The program aims to raise awareness of the significance of mental health and the contribution that football and sport in general can make to fostering mental wellbeing.
To help understand the effects of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on people’s health and mental wellbeing, an online poll has been launched.
