It was launched at a ceremony in Birmingham in February 2018, with guests of honour including World Cup and EURO referee Mark Clattenburg.

Pakistani businessman Shahzeb Mehmood Trunkwala of World Group[7] was elected as Honorary Vice President, along with English solicitor and charity founder Tim Ollerenshaw.

[8] Greek businessman Thanos Papadopoulos[9] took over as CEO, and German events mogul Christoph Köchy[10] became Head Of Sponsorship.

[12][13] Popular football figures were signed on to be ambassadors, led by Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho, who has played in socca exhibition games in Pakistan in summer 2017.

[18][19][20] Successive World Cups were held in Rethymno, Crete[21] (2019), Budapest, Hungary[22] (2022), and Essen, Germany[23] (2023).