The former chief medical officer of FIFA has told the BBC that it made the wrong decision to stop an initiative educating children about the avoidance of diseases.
Jiri Dvorak said world football's governing body should have continued its "11 for Health" programme, backed by stars including Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.
It said the programme was having a "limited impact," but Dvorak said: "The idea was to translate those health messages into footballing language -- for example, defending against infectious diseases.
"We took a role model to present the message to the 10, 11, 12-year-old kids. This is an extremely powerful tool. I have learned that, when football talks, everybody listens.
"I was convinced we might help impact the health of the future generation."
FIFA said it would continue to support "similar" initiatives and was "committed to protecting the health of players throughout the world."
The programme was launched in 2010 and Dvorak, who lost his job nine months after Gianni Infantino succeeded Sepp Blatter as president, said he believed his connection to Blatter may have been the reason for the programme ending.
"I didn't do anything wrong," he said. "The only explanation I can have, and maybe I'm naive, is that I was so close to Mr Blatter, who has supported the development of football medicine."
Meanwhile, the head of the Mathare Youth Sports Association in Nairobi, Kenya, said FIFA had made "the worst mistake" in ending the project.
He said it left "a big gap in terms of information getting to the right people" about illnesses including HIV and malaria.