FIFA and WHO partnership at the Club World Cup: tell me who you hang out with, and I'll tell you who you are?

Abstract

Referencing the Be Active campaign, this text presents and reflects on the contradictions that permeate the partnership between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Chief among these is the contrast between FIFA's historical relationship with the unhealthy commodity industries that have sponsored its mega-events for over 50 years, and the WHO's efforts to recommend more assertive policies to protect children and adolescents from the impacts of food marketing, as well as its support for the debate on the commercial determinants of health. Additionally, the text highlights contradictions in anti-racist issues and questions the WHO's support for an institution with a troubled recent history in other spheres, such as corruption and ties to theocratic regimes, which seek to "cleanse" their image through sportswashing. Finally, based on these points of contradiction, which involve more than just economic prerogatives, it is worth pointing out, from the perspective of promoting PA, that the partnership between the WHO and FIFA is unsustainable. Reflecting on the WHO's endorsements of FIFA, it is recommended that it distance itself from organizations whose practices fail to prioritize health and equity.