On Monday, the AFC announced that its nominees for the 2019 AFC Dream Asia Awards were announced.
The Dream Asia Foundation was set up in 2017 as a way using football to bring people together, mainly those who are disadvantaged.
The AFC’s vision is to make soccer more accessible to everyone and there are many nominees in many different categories. Which is great to see. Soccer is a great way of uniting people and it’s fantastic to see the AFC finding success with this Foundation.
Monday’s press release can be found below:
The power of football as a platform for social development continues to gain momentum with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Dream Asia Awards 2019 compiling a record 26 shortlist from Member Associations and many other organisations.
Leading the way in the Inspiring Member Associations category, which was introduced in 2018, are the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan Football Association, Football Association of Malaysia, Uzbekistan Football Association and the Chinese Football Association.
Bangladesh Football Federation, Hong Kong Football Association, Jordan Football Association, Myanmar Football Federation and the Football Association of Singapore have submitted their nominations for the Developing category.
Guam Football Association, Mongolian Football Federation and the Palestine Football Association complete the line-up in the Aspiring category.
The Non-Government Organisation (NGO) category is the most competitive with eight nominations received namely, Shanghai Adream Foundation and Shanghai Love and Grace Sports Club from China PR, Global Workers’ Organisation from Chinese Taipei, Persepolis FC Fan Club from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan Inclusive FF, Dignity for Children from Malaysia as well as Childreach Nepal and Shelter Ashraya Nepal.
Volkswagen Group from China, Sun Ai Carpet from IR Iran and Qatar’s SHELL have been nominated in the Corporate category with Iranian international Alireza Beiranvand and veteran journalist Bhojraj Bhat from Nepal vying for the Individual category.
The winners for this year’s awards will be announced on October 30, 2019 at the annual AFC Social Responsibility Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Winning Member Associations will receive a prize of USD$15,000 to reinvest in social projects and the winners in the other categories will receive USD$10,000.