The Global Citizen NOW summit in New York on Thursday served as the launchpad for a campaign that pairs soccer’s biggest stage with a new push for children’s education. Global Citizen’s founder Hugh Evans and FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a $100 million pool of money that will be distributed in grants to grassroots organizations working with underserved youth around the world.
The fund will be spotlighted by the first-ever halftime show at the men’s World Cup, to be held on July 19 during the ongoing tournament being staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Coldplay’s Chris Martin served as the curator, lining up pop heavyweights Madonna, Shakira and BTS to perform. Shakira also released the official World Cup song “Dai Dai,” featuring Afrobeats star Burna Boy, on the day of the announcement.
Financial commitments to the fund include $15 million from corporate backers Bank of America, MetLife and Cisco. MetLife has added a social media component: the insurer will donate $5 for every video fans post of themselves juggling a soccer ball with the hashtag #FootworkForFutures. Indian education entrepreneur Sunny Varkey and his Varkey Foundation contributed $3 million. Singer The Weeknd is directing proceeds from his recent high-grossing tour to the effort, and the upcoming joint tour by Usher and Chris Brown will also add to the pool.
Shakira committed the entirety of her royalties from “Dai Dai” plus $1 from each ticket to her newly expanded U.S. tour. “I hope that on the world’s biggest stage, finally, the importance of investing in education steals the show,” Shakira said at the summit. In an interview with The Associated Press, she added, “Many children are being left behind. That should be our first concern.”
The initiative’s design includes $1 from every World Cup ticket sale going to the education fund. But the price of tickets — often costing thousands of dollars — could limit attendance, with some host cities projecting lower crowds than originally expected. The Associated Press reported that critics charge the kingdom of Saudi Arabia uses sports to distract from its human rights record, a charge relevant because the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund became an official World Cup supporter on the same day.
FIFA’s ties to the Trump administration have drawn additional scrutiny. Infantino awarded a new FIFA peace prize to President Donald Trump in December, and Trump’s daughter Ivanka was appointed to the education fund’s board. Critics say the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and recent military operations clash with the inclusive spirit of an international sporting event.
Evans sought to separate the fund from political headwinds. “I’m a pragmatist,” he told the AP. “I’ve always believed that if we can do something so unbelievably positive, it has the potential to unite people at a time when the world needs it most.” He said the drive had raised $47 million so far and called on current and future World Cup host countries to add state funding.
Among the first 27 grantees of the fund is Hit the Books, a Harlem-based organization that uses mixed martial arts as an entry point for academic support. The grants range from $50,000 to $250,000, and Jhae Thompson, the group’s executive director, said the new money is critical for organizations that often operate on shoestring budgets. “What we are really leveraging is the foundation of what a young person needs in order to build character, to build discipline, to build confidence,” Thompson told the summit audience.
Global Citizen has been expanding its presence in new regions, including the Middle East, at a time when traditional funders such as the U.S. government have cut international aid. The organization recently added Mariam AlMheiri, head of the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court of the United Arab Emirates, to