FIFA has revealed that Calm will be the official mindfulness and meditation product of the FIFA World Cup 2022, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and FIFAe Nations Cup 2023.
An app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, the company will bring tools to support mental health to the global football community ahead of the Qatar-based tournament kicking off this month.
“Mental and physical health are equal partners in the combined well-being of a person, and care for both must be seen as integral in caring for the footballing family,” said Andrew Massey, FIFA’s Director of Medical.
“As a sporting community, we need to create an environment that better supports mental well-being and mental health. The well-being of footballers at all levels of the game has always been and will always be the top priority of FIFA, as can be seen with this collaboration.”
All players, coaches and training staff participating in both the men’s and women’s World Cups will receive free Calm subscriptions to ‘help them prepare for matches’, as well as the FIFA workforce and the thousands of volunteers who support and facilitate football events.
Furthermore, the company has promised that fans will receive 50% off subscriptions through exclusive offers prior to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and other FIFA events.
The pair will also collaborate on creating mindfulness content intended to help members of the football community “find their calm” on matchdays and beyond.
This will feature a series of webinars and educational online sessions aimed at the football community, including FIFA’s 211 member associations, exploring how mindfulness is ‘crucial’ to the well-being of high-performance athletes, gamers, workforce and fans.
Fergal Walker, Calm’s VP of Partnerships, added: “We’re proud to team up with FIFA, bringing mental wellness tools to the global football community.
“This is just the beginning of our work together, and we’re excited for what’s to come as we integrate mental health into football, for players, for staff and of course for the fans.”
The governing body has outlined that it is committed to using football as a tool to support mental health globally through its #ReachOut campaign.
