Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

More than a billion people around the world spend their free time watching soccer. It’s an international phenomenon. The United Nations is hoping to use the world’s love for the game to raise funds to support education around the world.

UNESCO, the U.N.‘s education organization is asking FIFA, the world’s soccer association, to consider levying a 0.4 percent tax on all sponsorship deals. The Better Future tax would run through 2015 and generate about $48 million annually to put nearly half a million children, who are currently out of school, into classrooms over the next five years. Considering that Cristiano Ronaldo signed a transfer deal with Real Madrid last June for nearly three times that amount, it doesn’t really seem like an unreasonable request.

The tax would be levied on all broadcast and sponsorship revenues from the five European leagues, including the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. The 2010 World Cup is projected to generate about $850 million in revenue, while annual revenues for the major European leagues total a collective 10.9 billion dollars in revenue.

To break it down, this is what revenue from the tax could create:

• The English Premiership could finance the education costs for 140,000 children in Ghana, home of Chelsea’s Michael Essien, creating a 15 percent decline in the nation’s number of out-of-school children.

• France’s revenue would provide education for 57,000 children or about 10 percent of the out-of-school children in Patrick Vieira’s Senegal.

Irish nonprofit Sports Against Racism has voiced their support for the UNESCO proposal saying, "This is a chance for football to step up to the mark and make a difference to the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged kids. Most footballers, managers, and fans would welcome this proposal. This is a chance to ensure that Africa’s first World Cup leaves a legacy that will be remembered."

Since 2007, FIFA has committed at least 0.7 percent of its revenue to social development, including education initiatives. FIFA has already gotten behind the 1Goal coalition that aims to use the 2010 World Cup games to raise awareness that education needs to be a top priority worldwide. The organization also remarked that the education problem cannot be solved by money alone. There has to be public support. That is why FIFA has gotten behind the 1Goal campaign. The campaign aims to put public pressure on countries that have committed more than $11 billion to education funding. Concerned that the world may miss its target of securing education for all children by 2015, UNESCO is seeking further FIFA support.

Club teams seem pretty keen on the idea. Chris Hughton, manager of the English Premiership‘s Newcastle United, is calling on FIFA to take action. In response to the UNESCO proposal, he said, "Football is a high-pressure environment. But at the end of the day it’s a sport. Education is a human right – and that right is being violated every day for millions of kids. As a sport we can help to change this picture through the Better Future levy."

UNESCO is working hard to make sure education is valued as a human right and made available to every child in the world. You can help support UNESCO’s efforts by joining the 1Goal campaign. Sign the petition to get started today. Spread the word and get your friends and family behind this global movement!

Photo by Stig Nygaard, flickr.