MALAYSIA, one of the participating countries of the Gazprom Football for Friendship (F4F) Programme, joined over 200 cities of the world in celebrating the International Day of Football and Friendship recently.
The celebration was conducted in Malaysia for the first time by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) along with Imran Zakaria and Lauren Hoh, the two young ambassadors selected to represent the country at the F4F Programme in Russia.
The young ambassadors from Malaysia will join children from 211 countries in Moscow for the F4F Programme conducted between June 8-15.
Imran, selected in the role of a young coach, will train the young footballers who will play against one another in the F4F International Championship. Lauren will act as a journalist and cover all the local and global activities of the F4F programme as part of the International Children's Press Centre.
The International Day of Football and Friendship was celebrated by FAM by conducting a friendly football match at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya recently.
The event saw participants tie the blue-green Friendship bracelet to each other in the presence of FAM officials, David Abela, Head of Coaching Education Unit, Wan Fakhrul, Head of Media, and Samuel Siew, Head of Grassroots.
FAM general secretary, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said: “We are delighted to provide our support in the celebration of the International Day of Football and Friendship in Malaysia, as it is our constant endeavor to instill core human values among children.
“Initiatives such as these, highlight the power of football in breaking barriers, uniting youngsters and creating a positive impact in the local community.
“We are glad to support our young ambassadors in their efforts to promote these key values, which the Football Association of Malaysia strongly believe in.”
The first International Day of Football and Friendship was announced by the Young Ambassadors of Gazprom's Football for Friendship programme in 2014.
Over the years, the events have featured famous football players, including Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic and Russian goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin from Zenit Saint Petersburg, as well as Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt from Feyenoord and the winner of Euro 2004, Theodoros Zagorakis, from the Greek team.