TY - JOUR T1 - Enhancing public trust in COVID-19 vaccination during the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup: a call for action JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med SP - 824 LP - 825 DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105249 VL - 56 IS - 14 AU - Mohammad Yasir Essar AU - Faisal A. Nawaz AU - Salah Eddine Oussama Kacimi AU - Selma Nihel Klouche- Djedid AU - Jaffer Shah AU - Sherief Ghozy AU - Edward R. Laskowski Y1 - 2022/07/01 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/56/14/824.abstract N2 - The COVID-19 continues to be a global threat with many countries currently battling the third wave of this pandemic.1 This pandemic has caused long-term effects in the form of health, human and economic loss along with psychological distress, particularly in low-income countries.Although vaccination efforts are under way in many countries, vaccine hesitancy, listed as one of global health’s most challenging issues, continues to be a major limitation to curbing the pandemic.2 Moreover, vaccine distribution inequality has emerged as a matter of serious concern, leaving lower-income countries with limited vaccine doses.3 The high visibility of sport provides an opportunity, if not a responsibility, to assist multi-faceted efforts to help mitigate this distressing crisis.One of the world’s most-watched sporting events, the FIFA Men’s World Cup, will be hosted in Qatar starting 21 November 2022. The previous edition of this tournament, hosted in Russia, was broadcast to over 3 billion viewers worldwide,4 and Qatar is preparing to welcome over 1.2 million visitors for the upcoming competition.5 Sporting events have been used in the past as platforms for spreading important awareness of health issues. This world football championship, involving 32 international teams, is unique given the context of the ongoing pandemic. Currently, FIFA has partnered with the WHO to promote equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, and to encourage … ER -