Xylem ropes in Pep Guardiola to create awareness on global water scarcity, affordability issue
Continuing its engagement with soccer to promote public engagement on global drinking water challenges, water technology major Xylem has roped in Pep Guardiola, the former Spanish player and current manager of Manchester City.
The partnership will allow both to campaign for awareness and education on water issues and will support community initiatives through The Guardiola Sala Foundation. The partnership aims to reach hundreds of millions of people and to motivate young people to address water challenges in their own communities.
“Our work with Manchester City has already reached over a billion people to raise awareness about pressing water challenges around the world,” said Xylem Chief Marketing Officer Joseph Vesey.
“Now, working with a legendary leader like Pep, we aim to unite the public, students, community leaders and NGOs, to take action to solve the water challenges in their communities.”
Guardiola, a professional football manager, established his philanthropic foundation earlier in 2021. He is considered as one of the most successful managers in soccer and also reportedly holds the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, Bundesliga and the Premier League.
The new alliance builds on Xylem’s existing partnership with both the Manchester City Football Club and City Football Group. Xylem has worked with soccer groups nationwide for several years, with Xylem becoming the official water technology partner of Manchester City in 2018.
“Where I’m from, in Catalonia, drought is always a risk,” said Guardiola. “The issue of community access to affordable water is very important to me personally. Our Foundation’s first activities, this summer, were working with children in Barcelona to help educate them on the importance of preserving water, and I’m so pleased to be partnering with a water leader like Xylem to help address water issues in communities everywhere.”
The first Xylem campaign to feature Pep Guardiola will be the upcoming “Water Heroes FC,” in which Guardiola encourages people everywhere to take action and solve water challenges in their “extra time.”
In July, Guardiola joined Xylem and EarthEcho International in the first in a series of water education events, at Casal dels Infants, in Barcelona, to encourage students to realize a more sustainable future for Spain’s water resources. Spain’s water resources are predicted to decline by up to 40 per cent by the end of the century.
