Didier Drogba Named WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Sport & Health
October 22, 2021
Football legend, Didier Drogba, has been appointed as the World Health Organization's (WHO) new Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health. He will promote the Organization's guidance on the benefits of physical activity and active lifestyles, and highlight the value of sports, particularly for youth.
The Ivorian striker is best known internationally for his long and record-setting career with Chelsea FC. He is also the all-time scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. In addition to his professional career record, Drogba also has a long track record off the pitch participating in various health campaigns, including healthy lifestyles, anti-malaria and HIV prevention and control.
In 2007, whilst he was an active football player, Drogba became a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador to raise awareness for economic, infrastructural and development challenges in Africa and the globe.
Current global estimates show four in five adolescents, and one in four adults, do not do enough physical activity. Increased physical inactivity also negatively impacts health systems, the environment, economic development, community well-being, and quality of life. Regular physical activity, including through sports, helps lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and various types of cancer (including breast cancer and colon cancer).
During the 18 October announcement in Geneva, Drogba said he was honoured to team up with WHO is “determined to work in partnership with WHO, FIFA, civil society, youth, the private sector and other stakeholders to reach out as many football fans as possible” in his new role. “I have benefited first-hand from the power of sports to lead a healthy life and I am committed to working with WHO to share such gains worldwide,” he stated.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyus hailed Drogba as a proven champion and game-changer, both on and off the pitch. For Ghebreyus, the athlete’s support can help slow down and eventually halt the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
According to the Organization, up to five million deaths per year could be averted if the global population was more active. Therefore, Drogba will also support the mobilization of the international community to “promote sports as an essential means for improving the physical, mental health and social wellbeing of all people, including in helping COVID-19 recovery efforts.”
The announcement was made during a ceremony to launch the Healthy 2022 World Cup – Creating Legacy for Sport and Health. The new multiyear initiative is a partnership between Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and its Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, WHO and FIFA to promote sports, healthy lives, health security and physical and mental wellbeing around the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
"Together we have joined in a range of joint initiatives to promote physical activity and mental health, and to advocate for public health measures and equitable health and other tools, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very pleased to further that relationship through this high-level statement of collaboration between Qatar, FIFA and WHO," said Ghebreyus.
The two-time African Footballer of the Year (2006 and 2009) joins other WHO ambassadors, including: champion Brazilian footballer Alisson Becker, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, President of the Born This Way Foundation and mother of artist Lady Gaga, Cynthia Germanotta and former UK Prime Minister and current UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown.