The event was officiated by representatives from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), NFAP, UNHCR, the Rohingya Education Centre (JREC) and SJK (T) Ladang Vallambrosa.

The event kicked off with a football clinic led by four AFC coaches, training 55 students from JREC and NFAP aged between 10 and 16-years-old, followed by friendly matches between the students.

Addressing the importance of holistic care and education to pave the way for future leaders, the Asian Football Confederation donated RM50,000 (USD12,362.25) to the Dignity for Children Foundation at the 20th Anniversary Celebration at the HGH Convention Centre on Saturday.

The donation will be channeled to initiatives by the AFC Dream Asia Foundation.

The AFC, together with the Foundation, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) are working hand in hand to improve and better the lives of the underprivileged refugee youth and children.

The AFC and the foundation have organised multiple programmes with refugee children in the past with the debut education programme for Rohingya children dating back to 2004 and subsequently organising the Faisal Cup, a football tournament for poor and refugee children in Malaysia.

Between 2008 and 2012, the foundation, in collaboration with UNHCR trained teachers for refugee learning centres in the Klang Valley and in 2015, the Dignity for Children Foundation successfully enrolled the first Rohingya student to a top university in Malaysia.

The landmark conference, which built on the highly-successful AFC-English Premier League joint conference in Hong Kong last year, brought together some of the world’s leading non-profit organisations to examine the positive impact of football to empower some of the Continent’s most vulnerable communities.

In his opening speech, AFC Social Responsibility Committee Chairman, Ahmed Eid S. Al Harbi said: “Football continues to make a difference in many parts of Asia and the AFC is determined to do more. We are fully committed towards strengthening our partnership with the world’s best organisations to enhance the quality and reach of our programmes.

“Together, I am confident we can fulfil our purpose to serve the people in Asia who need us the most and to create a brighter and better future for tomorrow’s generation through football.”

The grassroots programme brings the local community as well as children from across the Continent together, focusing on inspiring children to have a healthy mind and body, as well as developing good communication skills and to pursue their goal in the spirit of fair play. 

Their latest endeavor took place at the Urawa Club House last Saturday, with over 80 participants from Urawa city, including a group of children from Northern Japan and a boy from Thailand taking part, before heading to witness a J1 League match between Urawa Reds and Cerezo Osaka at the Saitama Stadium. 

The children and parents were welcomed by Keizo Fuchita, Urawa Red Diamonds President and David Borja, the AFC representative as well as Suzuki Keita and Nagai Yuiti - two former Urawa Reds players and ACL champions in 2007 - who spoke on their experiences as professional players and emphasised on the importance of fair play.