Princess Rani Vanouska Modely is the Founder of the Football World Heritage Organization, and the official ambassador delegate to lead the candidacy of Football as a world intangible heritage to be registered on UNESCO’s list. Rani Vanouska T.Modely is a descendant from one of the most important houses of the Indian Empire. Princess Rajput, of the Chauhan royal dynasty, heiress of the direct lineage of King Hammira-Deva Chauhan of Ranthambhore. Whose ancestor is none other than HRH Prithviraj Chauhan III, “the last Emperor of India” who ruled the kingdoms of Ajmer and Delhi in northern India. She is originally from French, British and Indo-European noble families.
Princess Rani Vanouska T. Modely views the sport as a tool for rekindling hope in the lives of children around the world. For Princess Rani Vanouska, football is more than just a competition or a venture for profit-making. Her role is to bring together Heads of State, leading world institutions, FIFA federations, iconic personalities from the world of football, politics, economics, and culture, and the world public, to call on UNESCO to include our football in the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Helping football grow means also helping poor local communities grow. As football is played mostly by kids Rani Vanouska Modely attention is focused on bringing humanitarian relief for young people all over the world. Football is creating bridges between people without distinction of language, religion, race or sex discrimination and , because of this, it is a perfect tool to change the world and promote human rights, equity and fairness. Princess Rani Vanouska T. Modely views the sport as a tool for rekindling hope in the lives of children around the world.
Vanouska Modely conceived her Football World Heritage idea when invited to the Champion’s League Final awards ceremony in Monaco in the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Football is much more than the most popular sport, it is a universal common language shared by 4.5 billion people on the planet. It, therefore, has its full place in the service of the objectives of the United Nations: education, culture, social inclusion, equality, environment and the development of the programs of nations united in the service of PEACE.
In a statement, he shared, “Princess Rani Vanouska Modely’s dedication towards the cause of Football World Heritage is remarkable. She is one of those rare people who light up the room with their presence and her beauty. In fact, this particular movement is close to my heart too as people might be divided in every way or form but the love for football is something that goes beyond the lines drawn by a human. I have been raised with the sport and I am delighted to extend my support to someone like Princess Rani Vanouska who not only respects the sport but is all determined to improve the perception of people towards it. For many it might be just a sport but for millions, Football is a celebration of life.”
What is your role, approach and objectives in this UNESCO candidacy? As Ambassador Delegate to the Member States of UNESCO, my role is to bring together Heads of State, high world institutions, FIFA federations, iconic sports, political, economic and cultural personalities and the world public, to call on UNESCO to include our soccer in the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Now, soccer, before being a question of competition or money, is first and foremost the most universal sport, a true language that children all over the world speak even before mastering their own language, a link between territories and countries. We want to bring all peoples together, and thus affirm the universal dimension of soccer within all the nations of the world in the service of Peace. The aim of this candidacy, and tomorrow of this UNESCO label, is to gain recognition for the challenge of social and cultural openness that soccer brings at a time when the world is tending to close its social and economic borders. The objective is also to encourage the signatory states of UNESCO and the world of soccer to adopt policies to support and finance social, educational and charitable initiatives. Our mission is to unite all soccer leaders around this project so that more than ever, soccer will be the symbol of universality and sharing in an open and peaceful world.
“Football can change the world.” It’s a common language, activity, source of health and happiness. Many football organizations have already shown support for Princess Rani Vanouska Modely and her UNESCO football candidacy bid. “We are conscious of the enormous power of the most popular sport in the world, of its capacity to act as a vehicle for universal values such as fair-play and respect and of its efficiency in the strive for social improvement that is the equality between men and women, social inclusion, tolerance, and education. We hope that Football will be saved in the Intangible Cultural Heritage list of UNESCO” – Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
What’s the goal ? Our goal is to bring a real ball to every child on the planet that cannot afford one as a universal symbol of freedom and equality. Developing football infrastructure, local projects, giving all children a place where football can be played. Football means happy and healthy kids, and there is no better investment for the future than that.
For example, as the FWH project is building steam heading toward the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the G20 is considering the importance of Climate Change, working now to pave the way for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) for the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, which will be co-hosted between Italy and the UK. Climate change fits into the goal of sustainable development, which is one of FWH’s Six Universal Values (the others being cultural diversity, youth and education, access to food and water, gender equality, and last but certainly not least, respect). As the organization explains, “Football is the most powerful tool to unite people and cross many boundaries, such as geographical, ethic, cultural and religious. It is by definition, the most powerful tool to make change around the world and team up for climate change for all generations. FWH is reaching out to all Football World Leaders and World Top’s Climate champions to make a change.”
Some think at Vanessa Modely as a Mother Theresa for football and the comparison is natural if you look at the motives and the goals involved. Fighting against child poverty, fighting for human rights and happiness, that creates similarities between the two. The young beauty, Princess Rani Vanouska T. Modely thinks that football should be registered as part of UNESCO’s World Cultural Intangible Heritage with a special focus on children and unity ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This require 185 countries to sign the initiative and many already did it.
This is not the first time that Rani Vanouska Modely has been associated with such an empowering project. She was appointed as a Gusi Peace Prize ambassador with the support of Président Jacques Chirac. Right at the start of 2015, she was named Goodwill representative by Daniel Janicot, the President of the French National Commission of UNESCO and she instantly became dedicated to the cause of education and children. Therefore, she was not interested in politics and behaviours, she wanted “ to act on the field much “ closer to people” She has always taken pride in the fact that she is in a position to make changes in the world and work to make things better. Throughout her life, she has engaged herself in educational projects and in spreading awareness about culture worldwide.
