Say Yes, July 2002: Yes … I Was There!

Warm-up

Arrivals. At the end of a twenty-six hour flight from Ankara to Seoul for the FIFA World Cup 2002. Tired and irritable, I collected my bags and almost sleepwalked my way to the arrivals lounge. Someone called ‘Hoş Geldiniz!’ and hearing the familiar greeting so far away from home snapped me out of my jet-lagged trance in an instant. Those were the first words I’d heard in Korea. They made a good start.

Kick-Off

It was straight down to business on the first night with a reception at the Turkish Embassy for representatives of the Turkish Football Association (TFA), Şenes Erzik, Board Member of FIFA, the media and of course supporters of the National Team.

I asked Mr Erzik to make a speech on behalf of the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance now making it’s Global Debut at the World Cup since FIFA had dedicated the competition to Say Yes for Children. He very kindly agreed and proceeded to detail the objectives of the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance to the assembly of reporters and football reps. He pointed out that this is in fact the first time ever that the World Cup competition has been dedicated to a humanitarian cause, indeed the single most important humanitarian cause -- the good health, well-being and development of children everywhere.

Talking about the activities of the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance in Turkey, he mentioned the special emphasis on education, especially girl’s education -- an issue which becomes daily more pressing. Well-known footballers have given their support to media campaigns designed to raise awareness of the subject in Turkey and UNICEF is hoping to develop the strategy further.

However, the World Cup is the World Cup and my spirits sank a little when it came to reporters questions which were entirely focused on the game itself. Such is the fanatical devotion enjoyed by the game that there really seems to be little room in the minds of supporters for anything other than tactics.

I decided that I was tired-out, exhausted by the flight, and that I wouldn’t let this observation deflate my enthusiasm to promote the children’s cause. I made a note to explore the issue in the cool light of day and said ‘İyi geceler’ to my colleagues.

Second Half

Turkey plays China -- a battle of the Republics -- and the stress on our National Team was tangible. Can Cobanoğlu, the Press Manager was diligent and helpful, providing information to the assembled company of more than seventy national and international media representatives about the UNICEF Turkey and TFA partnership. He mentioned how the Say Yes for Children banner was unfurled during friendly games and referred to Ogün Temizkanoğlu’s television appearances in support of educational awareness.

He said: We believe in the power of football but more importantly, we believe that children are our future. We should work together to make a better world for children and to ensure access to high quality education for all children.

During the course of the match, I was busy promoting the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance on the press stand, talking to various tv people and reporters and making sure that they had all read our press releases. It wasn’t difficult to keep track of Turkey’s progress, however, since there was a deafening roar of support for each of the three goals scored against China.

UNICEF’s presence at the game was very much in evidence: the public service announcement ‘Change the World with Children: The Power of Football’ was aired at the beginning of all the games and sight of the child escorts in their Say Yes for Children t-shirts accompanying players at the start of the game was an unforgettably moving experience for me. The Say Yes for Children logo was the only form of branding allowed on the pitch -- another significant World Cup ‘first’. I was very much heartened to see that in our commercial world where so much hinges on competition between global brands, there is real support among the big corporations for A World Fit for Children.

And a big hand for the people at Türkiye Radyo Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) who covered the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance and gave me the opportunity to talk about the partnership on both the global and national levels.

Final Whistle

The TFA were very helpful and supportive before they left for Japan, donating a shirt signed by all the members of the Team. This has gone to Britain to be auctioned along with similar memorabilia of the tournament in aid of UNICEF. Given Turkey’s final result, I’m sure that it will fetch a good price. Many of the competing teams made similar donations and I was glad to hear that players were aware of the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance and offered quotes in support of this unprecedented initiative.

While the media appeared to do their level best to cover the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance, the World Cup is about football and, as many of my colleagues in that camp were keen to point out, they were first and foremost in Seoul and Japan to report back on Football.

Meetings with representatives of other competing teams were friendly and informative but sadly the pressure of the event tended to confound their best intentions. Mick McCarthy, the Republic of Ireland coach readily agreed to have his team play a match with a children’s team on World Children’s Football Day but the Irish unfortunately lost to Spain and had to return home before June 19th.

Similarly, the Press Officer for the Spanish team was also very cooperative and offered to get some quotes on the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance from his players but he had to explain in the end that they were under a great deal of pressure. And eventually the Spanish themselves were on their way home.

Thankfully, the team from the USA were very conscious of the campaign and made a great deal of it at their press calls. Brian McBride said:

UNICEF and FIFA’s Say Yes for Children Football Day is another great way to help kids all over the world. I’m glad to have been a part of UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in the US.

The Score

Before my visit to Seoul, I was aware of the influence football exerts on people (I’m Turkish, after all) but I had very much underestimated just how profound an effect that is. It occurred to me that the fanatical devotion of football supporters sucks everything in and substitutes it with the fever of the game itself. Looking to the future of the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance, we should perhaps find ways to circumvent this ’black hole’ in the attention-span which tends to replace all other matters with the players’ performance on the pitch.

The FIFA World Cup 2002 was a magnificent start to a campaign which will develop on the more modest, yet more relevant local level. Football means so much to everyone that it cannot help but serve in the best sense as a motivator for governments, communities, families and individuals to make this world of ours fit for children.

No matter which team you support.

Sema Hosta,
Communication Officer

Read about the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance to Say Yes for Children in this issue. Also in this issue, Where to now? outlines some ideas about football as a tool for advocacy, training and education. Find out more about the FIFA/UNICEF Alliance from our global headquarters. There’s more about Say Yes for Children in the February 2002 issue of Say Yes.

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