Malaysia, Oct 5, 2016: The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) social responsibility project – the ultra-durable balls – won gold in the ‘Best Sports CSR Initiative’ category at the prestigious Asia Sports Industry Awards (SPIA) 2016 on Tuesday in Bangkok, Thailand.
The ultra-durable balls project, which is recognised as a breakthrough in ball technology that never needs a pump and never goes flat, is part of the AFC’s partnership with the One World Play Project to leverage on the beautiful game as a platform to enrich lives and bring about positive social outcomes.
AFC Social Responsibility Committee Member Ms. Chuenchanok Siriwat who received the award in a glittering ceremony at the Centara World Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, said, “The AFC is deeply honoured to receive this award and we are very proud of the wonderful work undertaken by the Member Associations to improve and inspire communities through football.
“Under the banner of One Asia, One Goal, the AFC has set a clear Vision and Mission to use football as tool for social development. This award exemplifies the power of football to bring joy, empower our youth and bridge communities across the continent.”
The ultra-durable balls project was awarded the gold award amongst a competitive field of 208 entries from 17 countries across 19 categories, primarily due to the value-added activities organised around the contributions and measures undertaken to ensure sustainability of social responsibility efforts.
Since its partnership with the One World Play Project in 2013, the AFC has donated more than 120,000 ultra-durable balls to 29 Member Associations, reaching close to 1.5 million able and disabled football loving children across Asia.
As part of the project, the AFC also works with Member Associations, local NGOs and government stakeholders to organise social responsibility seminars for grassroots coaches in areas such as character building, child psychology, health awareness, gender equality and social inclusion.
The ultra-durable balls project is a key part of the five strategic social responsibility focus areas, as envisaged in the AFC’s Vision and Mission: children and youth, integrity and education, social inclusion, health and humanitarian relief. —- AFC
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.