The ‘Princess’, The Footballer and UNESCO

Reported on an announcement to suggest Al Duhail and Qatar national team player, Almoez Ali had signed to become a Goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO].

However, despite images showing the alleged “signing ceremony”, the star footballer was not in the company of a UNESCO representative but an individual apparently posing as such.

FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger was also present at the signing.

The debacle began when Almoez tweeted an image of the ceremony, prompting several local outlets to congratulate the star striker, including Qatar News Agency.

The Qatar Football Association also announced the news with an accompanying image of Almoez emblazoned with the words ‘UNESCO AMBASSADOR’, though that tweet has now been deleted.

UNESCO confirmed in an exclusive exchange that it was, in fact, false, and that Almoez was not a UNESCO goodwill ambassador.

This was because “Princess” Rani Vanouska Modely is not affiliated in any way to UNESCO and cannot speak, sign or work on its behalf, and has been falsely posing as a representative of the global body.

UNESCO’s Director for the Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen, Anna Paolini confirmed “Ms. Rani is not affiliated to UNESCO in any way, therefore Mr. Moez cannot be a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.”

The Qatar national team player said news of his ambassadorship with UNESCO was inaccurate and said he had instead signed to Modely’s Football World Heritage initiative, which aims to lobby UNESCO.

Faux royalty?

This poses serious questions on how Modely, whose royal status is questionable and position as representative of UNESCO flatly rejected, was able to apparently dupe official government bodies, including the QFA and state news agency QNA, as well as local media outlets.

“Princess Rani Vanouska Modely” goes by several names, including “Vanessa”, “Rani” and “Vanouska”. Further investigation showed there was no official claims or statement from UNESCO that acknowledges the “Football World Heritage” project. This, simply, does not exist under the global organisation.

“Princess Rani or Vanessa Modely has been falsely posing as a UNESCO official for several years and was previously warned by the organisation to cease and desist in June 2019.