Khalida Popal and Javier Zanetti among football stars appointed UN Champions

On Monday, current and former players and coaches representing the elite of global men and women’s football, took on an informal ambassadorial role to promote sustainability, gender equality, inclusion and human rights.

They range from league and cup-winning managerial maestro Carlo Ancelotti to Women’s Super League and Serie A winner Eni Aluko, Inter Milan hero Javier Zanetti, and exiled Afghan women's national team player Khalida Popal.

The most popular and accessible sport in the world

Football’s scale makes it a uniquely powerful communications platform, reaching audiences across regions, generations and communities.

At the launch of the FFTG initiative in 2022, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said, “The United Nations recognises the powerful voice football carries in the global community and the role it can play in raising awareness of the SDGs through the popularity of the game.”

“Not only is football the most popular sport in the world, it is also the most accessible”

World Football Day

The FFTG Champions were announced on World Football Day, observed every year on 25 May – a date chosen to mark the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament featuring representation of all regions, in 1924 during the Summer Olympics in Paris.

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing World Football Day in May 2024, acknowledging the global reach of football and its impact on peace and diplomacy, and recognising that football creates space for cooperation.

Football’s global popularity and accessibility have made it a powerful platform for public engagement on issues ranging from climate action, health and education to inclusion and gender equality. It is in that spirit that the FFTG Champions programme was created.

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