MRF President joins AFC Dream Asia Foundation meeting

FIFA and AFC Social Responsibility Commit­tee Chairman U Zaw Zaw attended the fifth meeting of the AFC Dream Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees at the Conrad Nagoya Hotel in Nagoya, Japan, on the morning of 20 September.

During the meeting, U Zaw Zaw presented updates on recovery and reconstruction efforts following Super Typhoon Sinlaku in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Blue Dream Programme of Ja­pan’s Kawasaki Frontale and the Football for Hope Programme of the UAE’s Sharjah FC, both of which will use five per cent of prize money from AFC club competitions for social development, as well as efforts to rebuild the Mandalay Football Academy following dam­age caused by the 2025 earthquake.

The meeting also discussed the AFC Child Safeguarding and Pro­tection Policy (2026 Edi­tion), which was revised and issued in August, and progress on the AFC So­cial Responsibility Toolkit 2026.

The Board reviewed strategic partnerships with Indonesia’s ASA Foundation under the Goals for Good pro­gramme and Malaysia’s The Lost Food Project (TLFP) under the Foot­ball for Food programme. It also discussed cooper­ation with the United Na­tions through the Football for the Goals (FFTG) in­itiative, which has been joined by 38 Asian football associations, and the ap­pointment of four special ambassadors from Asia: Park Ji-sung, Moya Dodd, Khalida Popal and Alex Chidiac.

The meeting further reviewed the appoint­ment of Dedicated Child Safeguarding Officers (CSGOs) across all 46 AFC member associa­tions and four regional associations.

The AFC Dream Asia Foundation focuses on child safeguarding, education and social development initiatives across Asian football. — TWA/KZL