FFV announces inaugural Community Shield, supporting World Vision's One Goal

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Football Federation Victoria is delighted to announce the inaugural FFV Community Shield will be held on Friday, February 13, 2015 at Knights Stadium.

The inaugural FFV Community Shield will be contested by Dockerty Cup champions Melbourne Knights, and NPL Victoria champions South Melbourne.

It will be held in support of World Vision's One Goal program, which aims to leverage the power of football to tackle malnutrition in Asia and Australia. Approximately 200 million children across Asia are affected by chronic malnutrition, with more than 18 million of these affected by increasing over-nutrition (obesity).

FFV is also privileged to announce World Vision's One Goal program as its corporate social responsibility (CSR) partner, and is honoured to welcome four-time UEFA Champions League winner and UEFA Global Ambassador for Diversity and Change, Clarence Seedorf, who is in Australia in support of One Goal.

FFV CEO Peter Gome said it was imperative for FFV to help raise awareness of the two extremes of nutrition issues in the region.

"Football is such a powerful tool to drive change across the world," Gome said.

"This is a chance for FFV to educate fans, create awareness, and hopefully encourage better health in the football family for years to come."

As part of its support, FFV will donate a portion of every ticket sold to the Community Shield to One Goal, which will go directly towards combating malnutrition and over-nutrition both in Australia, and across Asia.

Clarence Seedorf UEFA Global Ambassador for Diversity and Change said it was encouraging to meet young people in Australia who were taking up football and living a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s great to be in Australia in support of One Goal on behalf of UEFA so I can help shed light on the vast problem of malnutrition and obesity across Asia and Australia,” Seedorf said.

“I urge all Australians to get behind One Goal and learn how you and your local football clubs can join the movement and make a difference.”

World Vision chief executive Tim Costello said World Vision was thrilled that Football Federation Victoria was joining the growing One Goal community.

“World Vision is extremely grateful for the wonderful support of the Football Federation of Victoria as the money raised would go towards our projects in Asia and Australia that help combat malnutrition,” Costello said.

“We believe One Goal has great potential to unite football fans around the world to come together to tackle the growing problem of malnutrition and to encourage young people to eat nutritious food and live a healthy and active lifestyle.”

Both Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne are powerhouses of Victorian football, having won two and three National Soccer League titles respectively, as well as scores of other trophies.

South Melbourne won the inaugural NPL Victoria title last year, and reached the semi-finals of the PS4 NPL Finals series before being defeated by the eventual winners MetroStars.

Melbourne Knights sealed their spot in the Community Shield by winning the Dockerty Cup against the odds, in a season that was marred by horrific injuries to a number of players in their first team.

Both sides will be hoping to add the inaugural FFV Community Shield, supporting One Goal, to their trophy cabinets in 2015.

About One Goal:
One goal is a partnership initiative of World Vision, Asian Football Confederation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, DSM, and Asian Football Development Project that has one goal: Nutrition for every child. With football as the catalyst, One Goal seeks to bring awareness to the issue of child malnutrition in Asia and Australia and powerfully inspire and mobilise the football community to take action to increase the number of children in the region who survive and thrive. For more information visit www.onegoal.asia.

About the partners:
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football and one of the six Confederations making up FIFA.  The AFC is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and consists of 46 Member Associations and one Associate Member Association. Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain is the AFC President and Dato’ Alex Soosay is the AFC General Secretary. (http://www.the-afc.com)

World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.  World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. (http://www.wvi.org)

The Asian Football Development Project is a not-for-profit Youth Commission founded in January 2012. AFDP provides Asian football organisations and development organisations using football as a tool for social development with needs-based assistance. (http://www.the-afdp.com)

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is an alliance driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. Created in 2002 at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children, GAIN supports public-private partnerships to increase access to the missing nutrients in diets necessary for people, communities and economies to be stronger and healthier. (http://www.gainhealth.org)

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. By connecting its unique competences in Life Sciences and Materials Sciences DSM is driving economic prosperity, environmental progress and social advances to create sustainable value for all stakeholders. (http://www.dsm.com)

Media Releases, Poverty, Asia and the Pacific, AFC Asian Cup, Football Federation Victoria, GAIN, Nutrition, One Goal Program

Back to all Results