Futbol Club (FC) Barcelona, FC Barcelona Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation kicked off a three-year partnership to energize the global fight to end polio and draw attention to the promise of life-saving vaccines. India is one of the four countries to be focused under the programme.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and manager Josep Guardiola, announced the partnership at the Newseum in Washington, DC. They were joined by players Andres Iniesta and Seydou Keita.

The first year of the partnership will focus on polio eradication. Polio has been reduced globally by 99 per cent and is one of the best examples of the value of life-saving vaccines. The disease once crippled children worldwide, but there are now just four countries--Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan--where polio transmission has never been stopped, a release said.

“We have the chance to score a big win against polio, but we need loud and passionate voices to join the fight,” said Gates. “FC Barcelona's commitment to using sport for social good will help us rally support for vaccines and end polio once and for all.”

FC Barcelona – with 18 million Facebook fans and multiple Twitter channels with millions of followers – will engage its followers through social media. In-stadium advertisements and announcements during matches will highlight the tremendous opportunity the world has to end polio and save millions of lives through childhood vaccination. Fans will be encouraged to join the team in the effort to eradicate only the second disease in history. The partnership will use the tagline “More than a Goal. End Polio,” a play on FC Barcelona's tagline, “More than a Club.”

“Sport is an effective way to reach children and youth, and we have found that it can be used to benefit the health of people worldwide,” said Rosell. “Our partnership with the Gates Foundation underscores our long-standing commitment to making the world a better place.”

“Just as football is a universal sport with the power to transform lives, vaccines are a universal tool with the power to save lives. Fans know that FC Barcelona is more than a club, and ending polio is more than a goal. When fans yell ‘Finish it!’, it can be very powerful. We’d like to take that same energy and help finish polio once and for all,” said Guardiola.

The partnership allows the Gates Foundation to use images and video of the FC Barcelona team to support awareness efforts. The two parties will use their own financial resources to fund marketing and promotional activities and will not be compensated for their partnership efforts.

FC Barcelona is widely known as the most socially committed club in the world, transmitting on-the-field excellence to off-the-field social projects. It uses the power of sports to reach children and youth with messages about health. It has been committed to social issues for more than 100 years, working with numerous partners to help improve the lives of children worldwide. For example, FC Barcelona provides 0.7 per cent of its revenue to its foundation and has a global alliance with UNICEF, the release added.