Article: NBA Player from Mexico Named U.N. Envoy for Anti-Drug Campaign

22 March 2001

Article: NBA Player from Mexico Named U.N. Envoy for Anti-Drug Campaign

Eduardo Najera and other athletes featured in announcements

Washington -- The United Nations has selected Mexican native Eduardo Najera, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as its Goodwill Ambassador for Sports Against Drugs.

A spokesman for the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) said March 22 that Najera, from Chihuahua, Mexico, is being featured in the agency's worldwide anti-drug public service campaign, which consists of 30-second television announcements in English and Spanish discouraging illegal drug use. A poster, featuring Najera and the message "Sports, Not Drugs," will be distributed to youngsters around the world through U.N. field offices.

The spokesman said the field offices will run the announcements at least through the rest of the NBA season, which extends to late June, although in some areas such as Latin America they could run longer at the discretion of various television stations.

As the only Mexican player in the NBA, a special emphasis will be made on getting Najera's message out in his home country, the spokesman said. The announcements will also run throughout Central America, and anywhere in South America where NBA games are broadcast, he said.

This is the second year that the United Nations and the NBA have teamed up for the anti-drug campaign. In 2000, the Sacramento Kings' Vlade Divac, from the former Yugoslavia, was chosen for the anti-drug ads, which were shown primarily in Europe.

Another athlete participating in the U.N. program is baseball player Pedro Martinez, a Dominican Republic native who pitches for the Boston Red Sox. Martinez' public service announcements have been shown to date only in the Caribbean, although a U.N. spokesman said the United Nations is hoping to expand that audience. Two other professional athletes, Major League Soccer's Khodadad Azizi from Iran, and cricketer Courtney Walsh from Jamaica, are also involved in the campaign.

The 6'8" (203-cm) Najera said when launching the U.N. media campaign at a high school in Dallas, Texas, March 14 that "not much has changed" since he grew up in Chihuahua. "I had a dream to be a professional basketball player, but that's not why I avoided drugs," he said. "I avoided drugs so I could give myself a greater opportunity in life."