VIDEO: Ten Sports Promo of Celebrity Charity Football Match - ASFC vs AHFC

Here is the Ten Sports promo ahead of showing tomorrow at 9pm IST the highlights of the Celebrity Charity Football Match played between Bollywood Stars (All Stars FC) and Cricketers (All Hearts FC) on March 30 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

PepsiCo and the Asian Football Development Project Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement for India & Middle East

In a ground-breaking initiative for social development and for the sports community, global food and beverage leader PepsiCo, announced that it has entered into a one-year strategic partnership with the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP). Under the theme 'Kick for Hope', the partnership will cover over 40 countries with a special focus on India.

The signing of the agreement will see both PepsiCo and AFDP join hands in the execution of major social responsibility projects using football as a tool for social development in at least 18 countries throughout Asia in 2013 and touching the lives of thousands of people. The focus will be on India and 11 countries in the Middle East including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Across all countries, PepsiCo will be joining AFDP in the execution of special grassroots football projects or initiating new ones; in addition to building on the power and popularity of the game to increase participation of women and youth. In India, PepsiCo and AFDP will be partnering with Magic Bus India Foundation, a Sport for Development organisation. As part of the partnership, PepsiCo and AFDP will support Magic Bus Sport for Development (S4D) programme across Indian states - Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra to provide sports opportunities for marginalised community youth and women in India.

Joint awareness raising activities to promote the importance of football for health and well-being and as a driver for social development will also take place throughout the year. Moreover, capacity building and training is planned for coaches and referees.

The partnership was formally announced at a press conference in Dubai attended by His Royal Highness Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Chairman of the AFDP and FIFA Vice-President representing Asia, and Saad Abdul-Latif, Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Asia, Middle East & Africa.

The AFDP is the brainchild of HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan who has dedicated his personal time and effort to roll out the project throughout Asia. Football plays an important role in shaping the culture of many societies and the AFDP aims to encourage social inclusion and participation by all members of society in the game with a particular emphasis on women and youth.

"We are extremely happy to be partnering with PepsiCo - not only are they a world-leading company but one that is totally committed to social development particularly in relation to the education of youth and empowerment of women through sport. This is a perfect fit with AFDP's mission and values, and we are also striving to implement the same level of best-practice PepsiCo exhibit in their everyday business. With PepsiCo as our partner, we know that we can work closely together to capitalize on the unique power of the world's favourite game to drive positive social change and promote sustainable development across Asia." said HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

"PepsiCo has a long association with football, the world's most popular sport and we strongly believe that it is a powerful agent for social change and development," said Saad Abdul-Latif, Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo Asia, Middle East & Africa. "As we enter into this strategic partnership with the AFDP, we trust that through our shared values and the strength of our conviction in the power of the game to drive social development, we will be able to positively impact local communities in Asia and in the Middle East," he added.

Women¨s football in the Middle East and India is developing strongly, and, with the projects to be rolled out as part of this partnership and under the theme of 'Kick for Hope', it is anticipated to grow even further.

"We at AFDP very much admire PepsiCo's long-standing commitment to empowering women especially in the Middle East and India where there are many challenges to overcome and stereotypes to break. Together with PepsiCo we hope to further facilitate access to safe environments where women and girls can get together and actively engage in a fun, healthy and safe sport that builds character and teaches social skills which are useful on and off the field, both football and society as a whole in Asia can only benefit from that," said HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

"We believe that the strength of the PepsiCo brand is in a community relations context, and the projects planned as part of our partnership are all about empowerment to encourage greater participation in football by women and youth. The core of this partnership is grassroots football, realizing dreams and giving opportunities to those who are less fortunate and PepsiCo is proud to be part of that."

AFDP and PepsiCo will jointly encourage the creation of women's football tournaments in the countries covered by the agreement with a focus on the Middle East and India.

"Women's football is one of, if not the fastest growing sports internationally. There are now over 30 million women and girls playing around the globe, and many of them have dreams to play at elite level, to represent their countries with pride, and some even to become World Champions like our talented Japanese sisters. PepsiCo's support will enable AFDP to create more new pathways for young women - even those from marginalized areas - to achieve such dreams. That is very important to AFDP. The game at all levels must be accessible to all," said HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

"This partnership will also support youth football programmes in the Middle East and India at a grassroots level. The benefits of organised, competitive sports to young people cannot be overstated," said Saad Abdul-Latif. "Football encourages team spirit, fitness and healthy competition which are all valuable life lessons for young people as they build their future," he added.

The AFDP has supported nationwide grassroots programmes in several Asian countries. For example, in the Philippines, a programme for 6-12 year old children in schools, regional football associations and clubs across 33 regions is well underway, while in Chinese Taipei, nationwide youth leagues for Under-10 and Under-12 boys and girls have been introduced.

PepsiCo as well has a long history and close association with football which is well rooted in its Pepsi brand campaigns but more importantly in its signature social responsibility projects focused on building the skills of youth in the field of football.

The AFDP is focused on increasing its impact through request-based project support in various Asian countries. The AFDP aims to implement at least 10 new projects this year in the Middle East and India, such as Mine Awareness projects for refugees in Jordan, and hopes to have as many as 217 teams comprising 2,540 children participating in the Chinese Taipei Youth League.

In one of the AFDP's established projects, the Faisal Cup for Underprivileged and Refugee Children, organized in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, saw the participation of over 600 children and 1,100 community members. In Cambodia, the AFDP is providing full-time training, housing and educational opportunities for 30 girls at risk of human trafficking. The grassroots football initiative in Bhutan is benefiting as many as 3,000 students and 200 teachers in 100 schools, and, in India, it is also organising football programmes benefiting 250,000 underprivileged children.

VIDEO: Bollywood Stars & Cricketers played Football for charity in Delhi

Here a report from Headlines Today on the charity football match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday titled 'Playing for Humanity' to raise money for NGO 'Magic Bus'. In the match Bollywood stars took on players from the Indian Cricket team.

Tonight Bollywood Stars & Cricketers play Football for charity in Delhi

Tonight well-known Bollywood stars and players from the Indian Cricket team will be playing a charity football match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi for a good cause titled 'Playing for Humanity' to raise money for NGO 'Magic Bus'.

The match will see the GS Worldwide Entertainment managed All Stars Football Club, which is a team of Bollywood actors, small screen actors, models, sports persons and friends take on the Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment managed, All Heart Football Club, a team of the Virat Kohli Foundation.

The All Stars FC will be captained by Abhishek Bachchan and have Ranbir Kapoor as vice-captain. Other stars who are likely to participate tonight are Dino Morea, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Marc Robinson, Shabir Ahluwalia, Karan Wahi, Ameet Gaur, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sachin Joshi, Raj Kundra, Caesar Gonzalves, Bosco Martis, Romeo Gates, Mazhar Dalvi, Jignesh Antala, Jas Bilang, Rohan Shreshta besides sporting icons Leander Paes, Nishant Mehra and Ritwik Bhattacharya plus other icons from the entertainment industry.

On the other side Cricket World Cup star Virat Kohli is the captain for the Indian cricket team, which also includes Mahender Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and others.

Both sides know that the match is about raising money for charity, but they also want to win tonight.

The match will kick-off at 8pm IST at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Bollywood Stars & Cricketers to play football for a good cause

It is a known fact that there are big football fans in Bollywood and amongst the Indian Cricket team and for a good cause titled 'Playing for Humanity' these stars will raise money for NGO Magic Bus.

The match will be played on March 30 in New Delhi and it is being managed by GS Worldwide Entertainment and the All Stars Football Club

"ASFC is a lot of fun. We plan to do great work. It's raising the awareness for a great game, to popularise it and to raise funds and it's a very noble gesture and I'm looking forward to playing," Abhishek Bachchan said in a press release.

Ranbir Singh added, "I'm fortunate to be one of the founders of the club. Bunty Walia (GS Entertainment) came with this brilliant idea and all the profits go to the charity organizations and I think it's a great cause."

The Bollywood team will be led by Abhishek Bachchan which will also include Ranbir Singh and Arjun Kapoor; while Cricket World Cup star Virat Kohli is the captain for the Indian cricket team, which also includes Mahender Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

Standard Chartered Corporate Soccer 5s 2012 - Successful Weekend!

The Standard Chartered Challenger team comprised of Sunil Kaushal (Regional Chief Executive, India & South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank), Nitin Paranjpe (CEO and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd), Rajeev Piramal (Executive Vice - Chairman, Peninsula Land Ltd), Rajnish Narula (CEO at Canara Robeco and Country Manager,India at Robeco), K. Sudarshan (Managing Director, EMA Partners, Viren Rasquinha (former Indian Hockey Captain), Mini Mathur (Indian actress & television personality - former video jockey MTV India, also a co-host of the Indian reality singing contest Indian Idol), Sheena Chohan (Indian actress & model, Won the "I am voice" title at Miss India Universe, Face and Brand Ambassador of Youth for Human Rights India and The Way to Happiness Foundation-India), Bunty Walia (Film Producer) and Sachin Sharma (Television Actor).

The event which attracted a record 83 teams with over 700 players participating witnessed over 150 matches on those two days culminating with the finals on Sunday, May 27 with the winners being decided in six different categories.

A very festive and carnival kind of atmosphere prevailed with food, fun and football frenzy prevailing and lots of cheering from the spectators who had gathered in very large numbers. The match against the Go Forward team was very fast paced and fortunes fluctuated before it ended in a very narrow and exciting win for the Go Forward youngsters. Pre-event Mr Kaushal launched the Standard Chartered Corporate Soccer 5s 2012 Trophy which the teams were vying for. The members of the Standard Chartered Challenger team also launched the Go Forward Brochures.

In the various categories, the quality of football displayed this year was of a much better quality then in previous editions, it was fast and furious. Matches were played on a League-cum-Knockout basis. Many of the matches in the knockout stage went to the wire and led to penalty shoot-outs. Late on Sunday night the results were finally decided.


Here the complete list of winners

Bowl Category
Winners – KPMG
Runners Up – National Australia Bank
Man of the Match – Raja Hudda (KPMG, 1 goal)

Salver Category
Winners – Capgemini
Runners Up – Cleartrip
Man of the Match – Rameez Dalvi (Capgemini, 2 goals)

Champions Cup
Winners – Amarchand Mangaldas
Runners up – TCS
Man of the Match – Mahendra Mishra (Amarchand Mangaldas, 1 goal)

Ladies Cup
Winners – HDFC Bank
Runners Up – Vodafone
Player of the Match – Sonal Arin (HDFC Bank, 1 goal)

Elite Cup
Winners – Baskin Robbins
Runners Up – Standard Chartered
Man of the Match – Sunil Batawale (Baskin Robbins, 1 goal)

Super Cup
Winners – Indian Hotels
Runners Up – HDFC Bank 1
Man of the Match – Pranay S. (Indian Hotels, 1 goal)

AFC, ANFA, Saathi join hands to highlight women’s empowerment

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and Saathi, a non-governmental organisation working for violence against women in Nepal, have joined hands to highlight women's empowerment through football during the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 to be played in Kathmandu from March 8 to 19.

The opening of the eight-nation competition coincides with the International Women's Day and the tournament will be used as a platform to promote the campaign – 'Our goal: Stop Violence Against Women'.

The campaign will see banners being unfurled and the participating teams pledging their support to stop domestic violence. For the first time, children from Saathi's sheltered homes will also have an opportunity to escort the players before the start of every match.

A friendly football event will be organised between street children in Kathmandu residing in Saathi's shelters and the children of Voice of Children on March 9 at the ANFA Complex.

The event will be inaugurated by FIFA President Sepp Blatter in the presence of AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong, ANFA President Ganesh Thapa, Nepal's Minister for Youth and Sports, Ms Kamala Roka and Saathi President Bandana Rana.

In addition, a drama to highlight gender-based violence and football as a social tool for change — enacted by the boys from the ANFA Academy and the girls from Saathi shelter — will be staged at the Rastriya Nach Ghar on March 11.

The organisations believe the spirit of Fair Play should be practised not only in the field, but also at home and in the society in order to ensure a violence-free society, where women are treated with equal respect and dignity.

This is a crucial time to celebrate the struggle for women's rights in the economic, social, political and cultural domain and to highlight women's achievements throughout the world.

2014 World Cup: Hepatitis contest could win you ticket in Bengal!

Bengalis are a crazy lot when it comes to football. Now school children and college kids have the chance to win an trip to Brazil and watch a match at the 2014 FIFA World Cup live. This is being made possible by Brazilian NGO C Tem Que Sabir C Tem Que Curar and the local Liver Foundation, West Bengal.

What do you need to do? If you are in school then you need to win a quiz on Hepatitis B and C, win an essay writing competition if in college, a campaign contest if you are a Masters student and a debate if in medical school.

A total of seven persons would travel to Brazil with five of them being school and college students - two school children plus one each from college, masters student and medical school.

The idea of the organisers is to use the beautiful game to spread the awareness about the diseases Hepatitis B and C across the state. The contest would go on for two years with all 19 districts of West Bengal taking part.

VIDEO: Interview of Abhijeet Barse (Slum Soccer, Nagpur) in Berlin

Over the first weekend of July I was in Berlin to cover a non-football event for an Indian television channel, but I had heard that a women's football tournament was being held in the German capital coinciding with the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany with teams from across the globe taking part.

Under the name of Discover Football this tournament was being organised in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Close to a 100 teams from around the world applied to take part and a high profile jury which included German FA president Dr. Theo Zwanziger and 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Organising Committee chief Steffi Jones decided on the participants. Teams from Israel/Jordan/Palestine, Brazil, Rwanda, Togo, Cameroon, Afghanistan and India where chosen besides a team from Berlin.

The tournament was played from June 27 to July 3 with the aim not about winning, but rather being interaction and a chance to learn from each other. The tournament was in a small field 7 A-Side format played in two halves of 30 minutes each.

Slum Soccer from Nagpur where the Indian representatives at the Discover Football tournament in Berlin. They had come with a team of women and girls from Maoist affected areas and for them coming to Germany was like a dream come true. I had the chance to speak to Abhijit Barse about the experience and Slum Soccer as a project back home in India.

Here the video of my interview with Abhijeet Barse (Slum Soccer, Nagpur)