“Recycle. Make it your goal!” Marcel Desailly achieved many goals during an illustrious playing career, including winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup™ with France. Now, the former defender has his sights on another goal: encouraging fans to recycle properly whilst attending the FIFA World Cup™. With the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicking off in Doha later this month, millions of fans will go to matches, attend the FIFA Fan Festival and enjoy all that Qatar has to offer. Desailly and FIFA want fans to contribute positively to the country´s sustainability commitments and leave Qatar as clean as they will find it. This involves following the clearly marked labels on the bins at all FIFA World Cup venues: blue is for recyclable materials and black is for all other waste.

“I think that it’s important for the world of football to be truly connected to this campaign because we have a real chance to change things through the mindfulness of each and every one of us,” said Desailly, who will be in Qatar.

“So, as a former sportsperson, it’s important for me to take a stand in order to explain and try to bring people’s attention to the need to make choices and be somewhat mindful so that we can make the world a better place” Recycling forms a key element of FIFA’s Sustainability Strategy, which seeks to maximise the sustainability of the preparation, staging, and post-tournament activities of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

“The FIFA World Cup 2022 Sustainability Strategy is central to everything we are doing at FIFA and in collaboration with our partners in Qatar for the tournament. Minimising waste and increasing recycling are key elements of a sustainable event. One of the Strategy´s objectives is to minimise waste sent to landfill from tournament sites and promote waste management and recycling solutions in Qatar,” said FIFA’s Head of Sustainability & Environment Federico Addiechi. “It is fantastic to have Marcel on board and raising awareness of the role everybody can play in recycling. Together, we can make a positive lasting impact.” Earlier this year, Qatar 2022 became the first FIFA World Cup to achieve international ISO 20121 sustainability certification. During the FIFA World Cup, FIFA will be running its Save the Planet campaign during certain matches to raise awareness of climate change.