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ASEAN, FIFA sign landmark collaboration agreement

VGP – ASEAN and FIFA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), paving way for the two organizations to join forces to leverage football as a catalyst for social development and healthy lifestyles in the region.

November 02, 2019 7:12 PM GMT+7

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (6th from right) at the signing ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand on November 2, 2019. Photo: VGP

The MoU was signed by ASEAN Secretary General Dato' Lim Jock Hoi and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Bangkok, Thailand and witnessed by the leaders of ASEAN countries.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, FIFA President Infantino said: “It is our duty and our task to come here, to work together and to invest. To invest in football, in our youth, in your boys and girls because as we know it football is a school of life.”

Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary General Dato’ Lim  said football, and sport in general, is a strategic means for bringing people together, promoting greater people-to-people connectivity, and making ASEAN even stronger as one community.

Under the MoU, the two sides will collaborate on a wide range of areas with strong focus on education, in particular through the implementation of FIFA’s Football for Schools Program to foster life skills and physical education through football for boys and girls in schools across the Southeast Asian region.

Both sides will also coordinate in implementing common strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and inclusive participation in football, particularly for women and marginalized communities.

The two organizations will also promote child safeguarding in football and advance sports integrity by increasing awareness of clean and fair play, the fight against match manipulation and anti-doping./.

By Quang Minh