Fighting Poverty through the World Cup
By Clare Scanlan
Although my soccer skills are limited to what I learned playing recreational soccer during elementary school in my New Jersey hometown, I have always been a soccer fan. When the FIFA World Cup arrives every four years I love seeing the enthusiasm and intensity as people come together in restaurants, bars, living rooms, and even the ACCION USA New York office kitchen to watch the games. What has been most exciting for me this year, however, is seeing how the World Cup causes people with a love of soccer to unite around global issues, including microfinance.
The World Cup was held in Africa for the first time in history this year. Having such an important and highly-viewed sporting event in the most impoverished and underdeveloped continent has brought several issues to the surface and given many nonprofits and charities the opportunity to reach out to soccer fans and players alike to become more involved in fighting poverty.
- 20 Centres for 2010, FIFA’s official cause for the World Cup, seeks to create 20 centers that will promote public health, education, and soccer in African communities. The cause brought fans together at the FIFA World Cup Kick-off Celebration Concert, where all net proceeds were donated.
- The 1GOAL Education for All campaign is using soccer to attract supporters in its mission to provide schooling to 72 million children globally by 2015.
- The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign has seized the opportunity to call attention to poverty and homelessness in South Africa and the exclusion of poor communities from the official World Cup through the creation of the Poor People’s World Cup, a local tournament that has been running concurrently with the FIFA matches.
- Other organizations attracted soccer fans through viewing parties, such as Common Threadz, a nonprofit that supports children in developing nations and provides microloans to women in Africa and Haiti.
- VISA created a soccer game to promote financial education called Financial Soccer.
- ACCION USA even caught World Cup fever, using a financial tip about soccer to provide financial education.
Although this year’s World Cup may be over, I believe its impact will continue to be evident in the success of nonprofits that have reached out to soccer lovers. It’s my hope that by the next World Cup we will be well on our way to a poverty-free world.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Ah, I had no idea professional soccer affected microfinance and financial education so much! Thanks for the info!