Norway supports Thua Thien - Hue in developing football for all

The Football Association of Norway (NFF) has provided Thua Thien-Hue province with over VND26.5 billion (US$1.2 million) in non-refundable aid to implement the project on developing football for all people in the 2016-2019 period.

The project with a total investment of over VND29.6 billion (US$1.3 million) will focus on training teachers, parents and volunteers to establish football clubs with the participation of the community to help children and teenagers have opportunities to take part in football activities and to train in life skills.

Main activities of the project will be implemented such as the development of an organisational structure for football for all and the establishment of four football clubs at schools per year. The project also encourages girls, disadvantaged people and ethnic minority students to attend football clubs in the spirit of respect and equality to raise their life skills and minimise the discrimination in addition to encouraging the contributions of parents, schools, agencies and the community.

According to Pham Van Hung, Director of the Education and Training Department of Thua Thien-Hue province, in the past ten years, more than 157 football clubs under the education sector have been set up and operating effectively in Thua Thien-Hue province and in Hai Phong's Do Son district thanks to the support from the Football For All in Vietnam (FFAV) under the NFF.

The project has created recreational opportunities for more than 16,000 primary and secondary children and disadvantaged children living in 15 social centres in the province, Hung noted.

He added that the project not only creates a football playground for children but also contributes to training their life skills, building friendly schools and reducing the rate of school dropout.