Danone Nations Cup: An Initiative by Danone to Promote Excellence in Sports and Health
Egypt’s Sports Academy team led by Captain Sherif Ahmed Abdel Moneim participated in the Danone Nations Cup on October 12th at the RCDE stadium in Barcelona, Spain to celebrate more than 20 years of excellence in football. The matches took place in front of thousands of spectators and our global ambassadors Carles Puyol, Amanda Dlamini and Pr. Muhammad Yunus as well as Danone CEO and Chairman, Emmanuel Faber.
Meeting cultures and traditions from all corners of the globe, the Danone Nations Cup has been educating the teams throughout the tournament on the importance of healthy hydration and nutrition habits as well as on how to protect the planet’s resources.
The Danone Nations Cup selected access to safe drinking water as its key cause to support throughout this year’s tournament. Working with partners such as the NGO Watering Minds Foundation as well as Nobel Peace Prize laureate and social business leader Pr. Muhammad Yunus, the Danone Nations Cup has to date provided funding to support projects for safe access to water for 30,000 children in schools across India. A number of challenges have been carried out including the “Change The Game” challenge, where Egypt’s boys team competed in an innovative and entertaining competition through 6 activities over 4 days to directly support the cause of safe water access.
The young athletes were also educated on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in workshops and, for the first time in their lives, were asked to vote on the UN Sustainable Development Goals that they want to see action on. The 700 children who participated in the World Finals expressed their voice. The votes gathered topped “gender equality” as the first priority, followed by “ocean preservation,” “climate action” and “wiping out poverty.”
Egypt’s boys team expressed their happiness with this lifetime experience that allowed them to learn more about new cultures, make friends from all parts of the world, develop better food habits, as well as acquiring new techniques and skills in football through competing with the participating teams.
"We are delighted to have participated in the Danone Nations Cup, which certainly helped the team enhance their skills, and made us feel proud to represent Egypt among other players from all corners of the world. Participating in this tournament has also awakened the dream of becoming international players among the team members and assured them that their dreams may be closer than they thought. This one of a kind experience has encouraged us to exert even more effort to qualify again in the upcoming years and win the title of the championship”, said Sherif Ahmed Abdel Moneim, Captain of Egypt’s Sports Academy team.
“The winning team at DNC Egypt national finals this year is very unique and they have gained a huge experience through playing with distinguished players from all over the world. We aspire through Danone’s vision, ‘One Planet. One Health’ to unleash the talents of young participants to be more than just football players, but rather become world citizens and catalysts for positive change in the world they live in. The Danone Nations Cup encourages children to achieve their full potential and be aware of the world around them in addition to understanding that proper nutrition is the foundation of building healthy generations,” said General Secretary Director Hanan Nayel.
Egypt’s Sports Academy practices at the Zoser Stadium in Shubra al-Khaimah and won the final qualifications held by Danone Egypt last March, which qualified them to represent Egypt at the Danone Nations Cup in Barcelona. Around 3,000 children from 32 Egyptian football academies participated in the qualifications last March. This worldwide football tournament has been held annually since 2000 for children aged 10-12 years, in which about 2 million children from 27 countries around the world participate.
At DNC 2019 World Finals, Spain took home the 2019 girls’ cup and Mexico took home the 2019 boys’ cup. At the end of the tournament, it was unveiled that the Danone Nations Cup 2020 edition will take place in Indonesia, which will be the first time for Asia to host the Danone Nations Cup finals.