One man in five dies before the age of 65.
TOGETHER we can change that.

Can we have our ball back?

11/06/26 . Blog

It's very difficult for the average football fan to feel part of this World Cup.

In Mexico, where they should be celebrating the fact that they're the first country to host the tournament three times, nobody can afford the ticket prices. In fact, that applies to fans from all countries - priced out of their own game.

With the USA hosting alongside Mexico and Canada, this becomes the third World Cup in a row to be staged in an authoritarian country where the rulers only real interest is in exploiting the beautiful game to their own ends. This year we've gone a step further. At this World Cup one of the competing nations (Iran) is at war with the hosts - something that makes FIFA's decision to give US president Donald Trump a 'peace' prize appear even more, er, ironic. 

Here in England, we can't even support our team. Who is going to put a flag up when the St George's cross has been hijacked by the far right? It has been turned into a symbol of division not unity. It's enough to make you move to Scotland (who, of course, the Forum are also supporting) where the flag still means something.

However, football fans are going to watch anyway so we need a World Cup Survival Guide. We produced one for the 2018 World Cup and the health advice is still valid. Food, drink, exercise, sleep and Ronaldo's work-rate - it's all covered. Some of the gags have aged – but not as much as the players (Ronaldo and Messi both feature heavily) - and let's face it, we were never going to come up with a bigger joke than the sight of Donald Trump nursing his FIFA Peace Prize and 'commemorative medal'.

Enjoy the football.

Jim Pollard,
Editor

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

Registered with the Fundraising Regulator

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  • 82 Tanner Street
  • London, SE1 3GN

Charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1087375). Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 4142349).