African Football Legends Embrace New Hashtag in Fight against Coronavirus

CAF in partnership with Speak Up Africa has kicked off the #19KickUpsAgainstCovid19 social media challenge, encouraging everyone to share information online to help stop the spread of COVID-19 on the African continent.

The new online challenge forms part of the Stay Safe Africa campaign, which seeks to empower communities and inpiduals to take simple and proven preventive measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Africa.

Stay Safe Africa, launched by Dakar-based advocacy tank Speak Up Africa, brings together partners to work towards a common goal of saving lives by increasing investments and awareness to protect our continent from this new threat while ensuring access and treatment from other ongoing health threats.

As part of the challenge, influential players are inviting their peers and everyone to participate in the challenge by recording a video of them doing 19 kick ups and sharing it on social media. To date, African football legends Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Joseph Yobo (Nigeria), Karim Haggui (Tunisia) and Trésor Lomana Lualua (DR Congo) have shared videos.

Furthermore, , CAF Deputy General Secretary Anthony Baffoe, has also participated in the challenge, as CAF lends its influential voices, clubs and legends to the campaign to help protect one billion Africans from COVID-19.

“Football brings together so many people from different backgrounds, nationalities and languages, and we hope that this social media challenge will bring people together in the same way. Even though the football season has been put on hold, we must all continue to come together, with distance, and fight the spread of this disease and misinformation. I personally took part in the challenge and I hope players and fans will engage and continue the chain," Baffoe said..

In Africa, there are currently over 157,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 4,000 deaths. Several risk factors mean the virus could spread quickly across the continent. A coordinated Africa-led approach to stop the spread of COVID-19 is crucial, as high population densities, communal living as well as the constrained access to water and washing facilities all increase the likelihood of coronavirus infections and fatalities.

“We are thrilled to have CAF’s influential players and members taking part in this exciting social media challenge and raising awareness of the importance of protecting yourself and others from COVID-19. Sport is a powerful tool to transform the continent, particularly when it comes to health initiatives. We encourage everyone to take part in this online challenge to raise awareness and incite positive change in health practices and behavior,” said Yacine Djibo, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.

To take part in the Stay Safe Africa social media challenge, share a video of yourself completing 19 kick ups along with the hashtag #19KickUpsAgainstCovid19 and nominate five more people to take part.