One shot, multiple goals (FIFA’s CSR)

There are so many amazing individuals working on behalf of causes that deserve support from the general public, companies, NGOs and governments. The challenge these days, and it does not look like it will change, is for those entities to support some of these causes without losing sight of their core missions and responsibilities. Also, to accomplish this in a way so that other causes and their supporters understand that when a sports property does not work with you at all or to the level you desire, it does not necessarily represent the validity of what you are doing nor the sports property’s feeling about your efforts. These sports properties may seem to have unlimited time and money but even they must make tough decisions when it comes to allocation of resources.

IRIN, a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is a great source for humanitarian news and analysis. IRIN recently sat down with Federico Addiechi, head of FIFA’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department, to discuss FIFA’s efforts with respect to the governing body’s activities to drive awareness of this serious situation.

You can read the full interview by clicking here and see an excerpt below. The excerpt highlights the challenges that even an organization like FIFA, one that is involved in a host of socially responsible activities, must face.

Q: Did people have unfair expectations of what FIFA’s role would be in the fight against HIV?

A: I would not say, ‘unfair’. When you work for a UN agency or a non-governmental organisation and you dedicate your life to a certain cause, then of course you think your cause is the most important, and you will do anything to get whoever can have a positive impact on it to help you.

We receive hundreds of requests for different causes, which are all legitimate, and we have the difficult task of having to say, ‘No’. The management of expectations is something that we are permanently doing.

Within FIFA I’m pushing for as much space as possible [for social causes], but there are limitations; it’s impossible to speak about HIV, and about human rights, and about human trafficking, and violence and gender equity … because we are the World Cup, and we should be speaking about football.

Again, you can find the interview by clicking here.