March 2024

Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o is expected to travel to Ghana with Fifa’s chief medical officer, Dr. Jiri Dvorak, in November in order to start the fourth edition of the Fifa 11 for Health program.

Educating the children

Fifa 11 for Health is a program that consists in training children on different ways to avoid health problems during their sporting lives. The program has already 30 000 students enrolled across 500 schools in Ghana.

“Fifa believes that Ghana has excelled and that’s why it is the first country in the world to have the fourth program,” said Dr. Prince Pambo, the project coordinator.

Regarded as one of the biggest African football legends, Samuel Eto’o won the African Footballer of the Year award in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. He won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, as well as two African Cup of Nations titles (in 2000 and in 2002). The 34-year-old sticker who currently plays for Turkish club Antalyaspor has scored 7 goals so far.

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An effective program

Launched as part of FIFA’s medical legacy to Africa after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA 11 for Health was introduced in Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia. It was later replicated in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. So far, more than 200,000 children in 20 countries have benefited from the training.

“Some of the benefits of the FIFA 11 for Health program include physical education becoming more relevant in schools,” Dr. Prince Pambo, National Project Leader in Ghana, said. “School sports were given a boost with the arrival of FIFA kits, massive increases in school attendance and the program exposed a number of potential public health concerns in Ghana, including childhood obesity,” he added.

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