The Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) and PepsiCo have announced a partnership that aims to make sports more accessible, facilitating a better quality and balanced lifestyle for people of all ages and abilities in the Kingdom.
“Harek,” the name for the two-year collaboration will see both partners work toward achieving the nation’s goal of increasing participation in weekly sports by 40 percent by 2030.
“For PepsiCo, the main objective of this partnership is to support the SFA’s mandate, which focuses on encouraging all Saudi citizens and residents to adopt physical activity and family fitness as part of their everyday routine. This is in full sync with our ‘Winning with Purpose’ mission, through which we continue to support a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. Both missions work in synergy and alignment with Vision 2030, which states the need to encourage widespread and regular participation in sports and athletic activities and to work in partnership with the private sector to establish additional programs and facilities,” said Tamer Mosalam, vice president, general manager, Gulf and Levant, Foods Business Unit at PepsiCo.
Mosalam described “Harek” as “a platform that has been designed with its own identity and characterizes key principles of inclusivity, longevity, inspiring action, and is rooted in local culture.”
He added: “The benefits of adopting an active lifestyle to support physical and mental well-being are more important now than ever before, especially with the unexpected pressure the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our everyday lives. Changing people’s mindset toward activity is at the heart of ‘Harek’ and being a source of education and inspiration to those wanting to make a positive change no matter how big or small is where we see ourselves making the most impact.”
Mosalam noted that whilst the sporting landscape may have changed in the last year, PepsiCo wanted to be part of the new movement with the SFA, given the fact that both sports and music are part of PepsiCo’s DNA.
He said: “We are proud of this partnership with the SFA and our work together to bring ‘Harek,’ which means ‘move’ to life. We are proud to have created a platform that represents the shared values and vision of PepsiCo and the SFA. The SFA’s expertise in the sports sector is unprecedented — we are looking forward to working with them to bring consumers a varied, unique and positive life-changing program of activities.”
Mosalam said ‘Harek’ will come to life in the Kingdom through four key pillars – Endorse, Promote, Enable and Activate, all with the objective of encouraging a more active lifestyle for everyone through a variety of activities — from neighborhood football leagues and in-house virtual activities to dedicated female fitness tournaments.
“We’re calling on the great people of Saudi Arabia to come join us and follow PepsiCo and the SFA’s social media channels to know what’s coming up, no matter your ability, to get moving and help spread the word about the benefits of being more active. One of our first activities is our social media campaign, ‘There is an athlete in each one of us,’ which was launched recently. The main objective of this campaign is to inspire people to move and make the decision to get active even if it’s just taking small steps to start with.”
