World Football Summit (WFS), the premier international event for the football industry, has announced a groundbreaking joint venture with FC Mother, the pioneering organization leveraging football’s global reach to improve maternal health outcomes worldwide. Through this collaboration, FC Mother will lead the new “Health, Well-being and Longevity” platform at WFS events, starting with the upcoming Women’s Football Summit in Bilbao.
This strategic partnership establishes a dedicated “Health, Well-being and Longevity” track within WFS programming, designed to spark conversations with tangible impact on how football can influence and improve global health outcomes, particularly maternal health. Furthermore, both organizations are proud to announce the “World Cup of Healing” event in New York in July 2025, prior to the FIFA Club World Cup final. This exclusive event will showcase transformative stories, impact metrics, and community engagement initiatives that demonstrate how the world’s most popular sport can address critical public health challenges.
“Football has always been more than just a game—it’s a powerful platform for social change,” said Jan Alessie, Co-Founder and Managing Director of World Football Summit. “By partnering with FC Mother, we’re creating a space where the football industry can unite around one of humanity’s most fundamental needs: maternal health. Together, we’re demonstrating that our sport can lead the way in addressing global health challenges through innovation and community engagement.”
FC Mother’s approach represents a paradigm shift in how sports organizations can contribute to public health. Their invention, “Healing Sports” (H-Sports), merges wellness initiatives with competitive sports to create measurable health impacts. Through their FC Mother League, they engage 5 billion football fans and 4,500 clubs worldwide in supporting maternal health programs.
Developed with over 10 years of R&D, FC Mother has cultivated the world’s largest health and wellness science ecosystem, including science partnerships with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, data partnerships with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), capital innovation partnerships with Carson Family Office and 33 Capital, and midwifery partnerships with maternal health luminaries Jennie Joseph and Dr. Heloisa Lessa.
“We believe the football club of the future is not just a place for athletic excellence, but a public vehicle to address humanity’s most important challenges, starting with healing our mothers,” said Morad Fareed, Founder and Chairman of FC Mother. “Our partnership with World Football Summit gives us an unprecedented platform to share the H-Sports vision with decision-makers across the football ecosystem. Together, we can instill maternal healing within football culture, generating millions of quality life years for mothers and families globally.”
Within the scope of the partnership, the “Health, Well-being and Longevity” theme will feature sessions highlighting how clubs can implement maternal health initiatives, measure their impact through Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs), and engage their communities in supporting mothers.
The platform will also showcase FC Mother’s ambitious goal of expanding to 400 clubs globally by 2034, potentially reaching 13 million mothers annually. During Women’s Football Summit in Bilbao, taking place on March 27th, Morad Fareed will lead the panel “How Football can help solve humanity’s most important challenge: healing our Mothers” along with Jennie Joseph, Founder and President of Commonsense Childbirth, and TIME 100 Health Honoree.
This landmark partnership between World Football Summit and FC Mother represents just the beginning of a long-term vision to integrate health and well-being into the core of football’s global impact. As the ‘Health, Well-being and Longevity’ platform develops across future WFS events, both organizations aim to build a global network of clubs committed to maternal health, establish industry-wide metrics for health impact, and ultimately redefine how sports organizations contribute to public health worldwide. The collaboration signals a new era where football’s reach extends beyond entertainment and competition to become a fundamental force for healing communities around the globe.
Football industry leaders, clubs, and organizations interested in participating in the inaugural ‘Health, Well-being and Longevity’ track can register for the Women’s Football Summit in Bilbao at https://WorldFootballSummit.
