Messi becomes brand ambassador for ‘Ooredoo’

Ooredoo, formerly known as Qtel Group, has announced football star Lionel “Leo” Messi as its global brand ambassador.

Messi, star forward for FC Barcelona and Argentina national team, has won four consecutive Fifa  Ballons d’Or, breaking records in football history.

The Leo Messi Foundation, which Messi founded in 2007, funds initiatives, both large and small, to help children in at-risk situations related to health care and education development.

As part of the partnership, the Leo Messi Foundation will develop and sponsor projects to stimulate human growth and development across Ooredoo’s markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. These youth sometimes have to fight hard to realise their dreams, and both Ooredoo and the Leo Messi Foundation will work to support them achieve their full potential.

Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “We chose to work with Lionel Messi because we believe that football is a shared passion that unites youth in all our countries and that the greatest athletes can play a role in inspiring young people to make the most of their life chances. All of our markets have a large youth population, and Leo Messi is a hero to young people from Jakarta through to Doha. Our new brand ambassador shares our belief in human growth and our conviction that all young people should be given the best life chances, and we’re proud to be working with him.”

Lionel Messi said: “I’m very happy to be working with Ooredoo as we share the same idea that practical steps make a difference. When I visit sick children in hospital, I realise the positive impact that public figures can have. It’s exciting to partner with a global group like Ooredoo, who can help to extend our foundation’s work into new markets, to support communities that need help and support young people to have the best chance to make their dreams come true.”

Ooredoo has launched a range of initiatives that support social change across the Middle East and North Africa in recent years, including m-health services to help people with diabetes, financial services for people without access to bank accounts in Qatar, and m-learning services to support young people’s economic empowerment.

In Indonesia, Ooredoo is supporting Indosat’s Mobile Clinic Programme. Since the launch of the programme in 2007, almost 600,000 people mainly living in remote areas have benefited from free health services provided by 16 mobile clinics.

In addition to his role with Ooredoo, Messi is global goodwill ambassador for Unicef.



 

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