By Armstrong Vas
Doha: The Doha Goals Forum will launch a worldwide initiative aimed at helping retiring and injured sportsmen at its fourth edition in Los Angeles, officials of the Forum revealed.
The multimillion-dollar international initiative known as the Doha Goals Sport Solidarity Fund will support athletes and their families suffering from sustained injuries as well as during post-retirement, said Richard Attias, Executive Producer of the Forum.
“We will be launching yet another new initiative at this year’s edition of the Doha Goals, the fourth edition which will be held in Los Angeles. The new initiative will need commitment from the American people. We are creating a forum. We are collecting very little money. We want to tell athletes ‘you give money today and you get money tomorrow’, said Attias, while speaking to The Peninsula.
The forum which is leading platform focusing on sport as a driver of social and economic change will be held in Los Angeles from July 25 to 27 and the first time the forum has been held outside Qatar.
The new project will focus on four areas, said Attias, founder and chairman of Richard Attias, a strategic communications firm and producer of Doha Goals Forum for the last three meets held in Qatar.
“The fund will provide funding for counselling and consulting services for current professional athletes and their families to prepare them for retirement. The Fund will provide a post-career angel fund: providing finance for business ideas and ventures for retiring athletes. It will develop private sector partnerships to create internships and training programmes for retired athletes.
“Finally, it will fund health and rehabilitation services for injured athletes and scholarships for educational programmes for retired athletes and opportunities for mentorship,” said Attias.
Attias is pained that many National League Football (NFL) players in America are jobless after they retire from the game and he expressed confidence that the new project will help the NFL players in a big way.
“This is an important initiative as and will benefit many players in starting their second careers (after retirement). Almost 80 percent of the NFL players are jobless after they stop playing, so this project will help them a long way,” added Attias.
The forum, which is an initiative to empower stakeholders to create a roadmap for social improvement through sports, and launch cross-border initiatives, has launched several projects worldwide since the first edition kicked off in Doha in 2012.
The Doha Goals Prosthetics Programme, and Doha Goals Sport Fields Initiative are some of the sport related projects launched by the Doha based forum.
Working with the Katarina Witt Foundation, Doha Goals is providing the opportunity for children around the world to get access to quality prosthetics under the Prosthetics Programme.
Under the Doha Goals Sports Field initiative, the Doha Goals Foundation has built sporting facilities in Port Gentil, Gabon and Nablus, West Bank, Palestine, providing free access to sport facilities for underprivileged youth in these communities.
Attias said this year’s edition of the Doha Goals Forum will partner with Special Olympics this year for the three-day summit and legacy programme which is in itself is an ‘achievement’ for Doha goals.
“As part of a shared commitment to sport for all, the Doha Goals Forum and Special Olympics have created a partnership to generate increased attention and support for the role that sports can play in empowering marginalised populations across the world.
“The Doha Goals Forum, the world’s premier global sports gathering, and Special Olympics, the world’s largest grassroots disability sports movement, will work together to scale innovative sports programs that have proven to engage vulnerable groups, including women and girls, and individuals with intellectual disabilities.
“The partnership will place a specific focus on the important role that government, the development community, and the sports industry can play in strengthening the role of sports as a key driver of social inclusion globally,” said the official. The summit will be held during the week of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.
Attias said with every edition the brand value of Doha Goals, which has H E Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak Al Thani as its Executive Director, has grown.
“The Doha Goals has established itself as a brand over the years and is one of the leading sports conference of the world. It is no longer a Qatar conference but a global conference and one of the biggest conference born in Doha and which has been exported to American and which will be held in the heart of the sport arena.”
The 2015 edition forum will debate topics such as women and young people in sport, philanthropy and CSR initiatives featuring sport, and sport’s role in promoting inclusion in society.
The Peninsula
