Morgan Freeman opened the World Cup draw in Doha, Qatar with a seven-minute speech that highlighted the connection between football and humanity.
It was a memorable opening for football fans as Morgan Freeman opened the 2022 Qatar World Cup! The veteran actor opened the draw ceremony in Doha, Qatar with a seven-minute speech that highlighted the connection between football and humanity.
“Football has a powerful hold on our heart,” he said. “It is a game of strategy and skill, but at its core it is about bringing us together. In the stadium, on the street, and around the world.”
As he spoke about how this connection can bring people together regardless of their background or race or religion, he was met with loud cheers from fans attending the event. Owing to the fact that the world is falling apart due to one crisis or the other, the actor sized the opportunity to remind the viewers that, “What unites us here is so much greater than what divides us. How can we make it last longer?”
The 2022 world cup has countries like;
- Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
- Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
- Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
- Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
- Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
- Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
- Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
Morgan Freeman is an American actor and voice actor. He voiced the character of Nelson Mandela in the movie Invictus. he was the narrator of the 2010 FIFA World Cup draw in Cape Town, South Africa, according to him, he has been a big football fan since his childhood days growing up in Mississippi, he now lives in Los Angeles with his wife Robin Roberts. To further cement his views that football can play a vital role towards peace building, he said that;
“Football has a powerful hold on our heart. It is a game of strategy and skill, but at its core it is about bringing us together. In the stadium, on the street, and around the world.”
Indeed, Football is a powerful game. It brings people together, transcends race and gender and religion, it has been played by kings as well as street kids on the streets of Brazil. If you love football, then you know that it is more than just a sport – it’s an art form: loved by so many people in the world. He also reiterated that football has no borders, no racial divisions, it doesn’t discriminate by gender or sexual orientation and it transcends religion. “Football is about community, about building bridges and breaking down barriers.” He said.
The 2022 Qatar World Cup is happening in November, December, Qatar being the first Arab country to host a World Cup will be playing and it hopes to win the title at the end of the tournament.
Qatar is one of the smallest countries on Earth, but it has the honor of being the first Middle Eastern country to host an international sporting event. It’s also one of only four countries that can claim to have ever hosted an entire tournament: South Korea did so at 1988 Summer Olympics; Germany did so at 1954 FIFA World Cup; and Japan did so at 1964 Summer Olympics (although they didn’t actually stage any matches).
Although The Qatar was a source of a lot of controversy, the FIFA management ensured it stood by its decision to award the small country the chance to host the world cup, this goes hand in hand with FIFA’s intention to fight for equity and fairness for all, Morgan freeman in his speech also made a statement in this regard, he said;
“As an African-American who grew up in America’s south during segregation, I cannot tell you how much it meant to me when Pelé said ‘football unites all mankind’,” Freeman said as he looked out over the crowd at Doha’s Corniche promenade from atop a dais inside Burj Khalifa on Monday evening. He added: “I have always been drawn to these kinds of stories – the power of sport to unite us as human beings.”
