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A FIFA World Cup project to promote mental health awareness, involving a custom-made public bench for each participating nation at the upcoming tournament in Qatar, has been launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health.
The initiative is part of the two organisations Sport for Health partnership and will see the “friendship benches” built for installation in various locations in capital city Doha including the precincts of the tournament stadiums.
The FIFA-supported project aims to demonstrate the importance of mental health and offer advice on ways to promote mental wellbeing through physical activity and sport.
Several of the benches were released this week to coincide with World Mental Health Day at 974 Stadium in Doha, one of the venues for the World Cup.
One of those was the England bench, which was inaugurated by Britain’s four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah.
He was joined by Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, chief executive of the Qatar Foundation, at the unveiling.
“Meeting Sir Mo and hearing the compelling story of how he left Mogadishu for London as a young boy and the mental health challenges he faced highlighted the importance of sitting down and talking about our mental health,” Al Thani said.
“I’m proud that Qatar Foundation’s global health initiative is among those helping shine a spotlight on mental health in such an innovative and practical way.”
The project is said to align with the common goals of various partner campaigns, including FIFA and WHO’s #REACHOUT programme.
Each bench features illustrations with advice describing effective exercises that visitors can practice for their physical, and in turn, mental health.
The friendship benches project is another vehicle to raise awareness about mental health conditions and to encourage a conversation, which could save a life.
“FIFA is proud to partner with the World Health Organization, and Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health to put football at the service of society, and to leave a lasting legacy in Qatar for residents and visitors,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The final locations of each of the 32 benches are due to be announced shortly and once installed information will be shared on how people will be able to visit their national benches.
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Owen Lloyd is a junior reporter at insidethegames.biz, having joined the team in 2021. Lloyd has previously worked with Badminton England at the All England Open Badminton Championships, covered the 2019 General Election and hosted a radio show on local station Voice FM. He graduated from Solent University in 2021 with a 2:1 in sports journalism, where his final project examined diversity in rowing.
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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
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