THUA THIEN HUE (22 June 2013) – A regional grassroots festival concluded recently in Vietnam culminating in a Football for All in Vietnam Cup 2013, the biggest tournament for grassroots football clubs in the nation, which bode well with the spirit of the AFC Grassroots Year 2013.
Football for All in Vietnam, or FFAV, a football development organisation initiated after a meeting between the Presidents of the Vietnam Football Federation and Football Association of Norway in 1997, organised the event from June 8 to 11.
According to FFAV’s official website, ffav.com.vn, participants in the FFAV Cup this year consisted of 320 teams from Mukdahan (Thailand), Salavan, Savanankhet (Laos), Hai Phong, Quang Tri, Tien Giang and Thua Thien Hue Province.
There were 202 U-12 clubs, 103 U-15 teams and 15 teams of children with disability from different social service centres at the event which saw 3,150 players and more than 1,000 coaches, teachers, volunteers, referees, supervisors and life skill facilitators taking part.
A total of 1,369 matches took place during the entire Cup where organising committee and referee committee members worked together tirelessly. The young players competed enthusiastically without forgetting to uphold their sportsmanship principles.
The invited guests present were AFC Grassroots Ambassador and Iranian legend Mehdi Mahdavika, Hallvar Thorresen of FA Norway, Norwegian Embassy’s Tone Wroldsen, Vietnam Football Federation General Secretary Ngo Le Bang, AFC acting Technical Director Mohamed Basir and FIFA Kuala Lumpur Development Office’s Technical Development Officer Lim Kim Chon. The organisation of the whole event was led by Anders Krystad, Director of FFAV.
In his speech at the closing ceremony, Pham Van Hung, Director of Thua Thien Hue Department of Education and Training announced that the FFAV Cup 2013 ended in success, ffav.com.vn reports.
“This event has been an inclusive platform for primary school and secondary school students to develop their enthusiasm in football, their life skills and their understanding on FFAV grassroots football club projects,” he said.
“Apart from football matches, the young players have the opportunity to interact and learn from one another through life skills learning activities and cultural exchange programmes.”
AFC’s Basir has extended his congratulations to the organising committee and the FFAV for successfully putting together an extensive event at a regional scale, ffav.com.vn reports further.
He also showed his gratefulness for being able to observe a joyful and enthusiastic ambience during the ceremony, the ideal environment for a sport event organised for children and youth.
The event managed to balance between football professionalism and rest and relax programmes that were suitable for children and youth. Also, he admired the effort in child protection and humanitarianism of the event.
The AFC has designated this year as the AFC Grassroots Year, aptly themed ‘Let’s Play!’, and is encouraging Member Associations to organise activities to promote and emphasise that football is accessible and socially beneficial to everyone.
It also provides a strong foundation that will allow players to progress to the elite level.
