Queen receives FIFA Award

AMMAN (JT) – Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday received the 2009 FIFA Presidential Award for contributions to football and society, in recognition of her commitment to the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign.

Speaking at the annual FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich, Switzerland, Queen Rania reiterated the importance of investing in education to give every child hope for a better life, and the opportunity to break out of cycles of poverty, according to a statement received by The Jordan Times.

“In her tireless work to ensure that every child has access to an education, she proves that we can build a better future if we all work together,” said FIFA President Sepp Blatter, welcoming Her Majesty on stage.

“It’s an honour to be here with football giants, heroes to children everywhere,” the Queen told FIFA executive committee members, footballers and coaches attending the ceremony, according to the statement.

Ten years after the UN Millennium Development Summit, 72 million children worldwide are still denied an education. Many cannot afford school fees; others work to support their families. This is why, Queen Rania pointed out, 1GOAL is working urgently to “put these children back into the game, back into school”.

In partnership with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), 1GOAL was launched last August in Wembley Stadium, London, in the presence of Queen Rania, its global co-founder, and a host of sporting stars.

As the official campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 1GOAL seeks “to get every child into school” by 2015, rallying support from footballers and fans across the world, according to the campaign’s literature.

The initiative spotlights the lack of education in Africa and the world’s poorest countries, and, next June, “will remind world leaders of their commitment to universal education”, the statement added.

“When new world champions are crowned next year, we can make the World Cup’s crowning achievement echo beyond the final whistle. We can make global education football’s greatest goal of all,” the statement quoted Her Majesty as saying. “That’s the power of football: to fuel our dreams and feed our belief in a larger cause,” she added.

Since the launch of 1GOAL, Queen Rania has played an active role in encouraging politicians, musicians, footballers and supporters to commit to the cause, signing their names on a virtual petition at www.join1goal.org.

At the end of the 2010 World Cup, to be hosted for the first time in South Africa, the aim is that 30 million signatures will be presented to global leaders to inspire greater commitment to global education.

In practical terms, the statement said, getting all children in developing countries into primary school, would take $11 billion per year – equivalent to the annual commercial revenue of five major European football leagues.

“So, before you return to your own teams, sign your name and make us believe we are all part of something bigger. Sign your name and make us believe we are all part of one team: 1 GOAL,” the Queen concluded.

Also at the awards ceremony, FIFA named FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as World Player of the Year, while the women’s award went to Brazil’s Marta for the fourth year in a row, the Associated Press reported. The football association handed its fair play award to the late England player and manager Bobby Ronson.

.

jordantimes