UN Geneva and UEFA join forces on Sustainable Development Goals and Match for Solidarity

UN Geneva and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will stage another edition of the star-studded Match for Solidarity in Geneva in 2022.

Having jointly staged the successful ‘Match for Solidarity’ in 2018, UEFA and UNOG will hold another edition in 2022. Money raised will again provide vital support to the UEFA Foundation for Children projects helping to protect children in Europe and across the world.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and UN Geneva Director-General Tatiana Valovaya yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect. 

The MOU further establishes a formal institutional partnership between the two organizations and outlines concrete activities to harness football’s capacity to promote sustainable development and peace. A core objective of the agreement is to highlight and promote football’s contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“I am delighted to strengthen our ties with UEFA, especially during a time that urgently needs collaboration and synergies. Sport is an important enabler of sustainable development and working together with UEFA will help us to rally people around important causes and prompt them to action," said UNOG Director-General Tatiana Valovaya. "We look forward to organizing the next Match for Solidarity and working on concrete activities that will help promote peace, rights and well-being for everyone.”

For UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, the memorandum and strong partnership with UNOG “is a testament to the values that our organizations share and promote, such as respect for human rights and dignity, democracy, non-discrimination, diversity and inclusion, solidarity and sustainability. Football has a unique power to bring people together and drive positive social change.

“In partnership with the United Nations, UEFA is committed to contributing to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and to raising awareness, including among national football associations, on how football can play an active role,” he said.

The full Memorandum of Understanding can be accessed here.