The Football for All Leadership Programme Asia & Oceania 2025 started with an introductory module in April 2025 with some amazing speaker, such as Joyce Cook CBE, OBE , who delivered the Opening Keynote Speech, followed by sessions on Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and Development through Football by Haneen Kh, Abhijeet Barse and Anne Bunde-Birouste, enabling discussions with our participants on the specific issues and challenges of their regions.
Between May 4 to 10 2025 we had the onsite lecture stage of our Football for All Leadership Programme Asia & Oceania 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
On May 5th, our programme included the session by Lavin Vignesh of FIFA Regional Development Office Kuala Lumpur, “Introduction to Football Structure – Continental and Global Football Landscape”, an incredibly dynamic session by Dan Dodge (Personal Development and Leadership Coach; International Expert in Sport for Development) on Personal & Group Development and an entrepreneurship talk by Sunny Shalesh focused on the work of Pan Disability Football Club Malaysia.
On May 6th, we started with a presentation by Preethy Janarthanan and Tiffany Lim (Special Olympics Asia Pacific) focused on Special Olympics and Community Engagement on Inclusive Sport, followed by one session presented by Suvashini Sivapathasundram (Badminton World Federation) about Para-Badminton Strategy, Event Management and Community Engagement. After lunch, Joana Cal (Integrated Dreams) and Ahmed Habib (Participant and Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy) told us more about How to Organise Accessible Events – The Importance of Including Accessibility as part of Event Planning. We ended the day with a visit to Bukit Jalil National Stadium and to the Petronas Twin Towers.
We started our sessions on May 7th with Laure Gruffat (FIFA Diversity & Accessibility Manager), Selin Deniz A. (Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator – Football Victoria) and Dawoud Maraqa (Foundation Manager – West Asian Football Federation), who shared with us fantastic presentations on Disability Football Landscape and Strategies. After lunch, Palu Uhatahi Tuamoheloa (Oceania Football Confederation) presented strategies for Disability Inclusion within Football in Oceania, followed by an activity carried out by our participants called “Disability Football Challenge – How to Set a More Inclusive Football”. We ended the day with an Entrepreneurship talk by Kim Schaefer – North West Sydney Football Association, ParaMatildas Coach, Disability Sports Australia, PLC Sydney and Former Matilda. Apart from some very fun dynamics, Kim brought copies of the PINK visual story adapted in braille and audio versions thanks to the support of The Epping Club, which enabled a more accessible experience for our blind and partially sighted participants.
On May 8th our participants had quite a busy day. We started the day with an incredibly interesting talk by Ralph M. Mpofu (Impact Hub Kuala Lumpur) on Project Sustainability – Fundraising & Collaboration and a session by Jonathan Choo (Social Value Malaysia) on Project Impact Measurement – Impact as Key for Community Development. After lunch, Tania Lee Xu Yar (Malaysian Olympism in Action Society, IOC Young Leader 2021-2024) shared with our participants her project Inclusive Leadership Programme (iLEAP) and we finished the day with an entrepreneurship talk by Elena Popova (Disability Supporters Association CSKA Moscow and Football for All Leadership Programme Alumna). During the afternoon, the FFALP A&O participants spent their time finishing details for their individual projects.
Our last day of the on-site module of our Football For All Leadership Programme Asia & Oceania started with an special activity organized by Anne Sivanathan, CEO at The Inclusive Outdoor Classroom, followed by a Keynote Speech by Datuk Seri Windsor John, Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). After a short break, our participants presented their individual projects in front of a set of panelists, who analyzed their proposals and gave them feedback. Thank you to our panelists this edition Noraseela khalid, Anne Sivanathan, Laure Gruffat, Li Neo Tay and Juliana Adam for your support and sharing your thoughts with our participants.
That evening, we celebrated the Football For All Leadership Programme Asia & Oceania Graduation Ceremony at Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts in Kuala Lumpur. It was an amazing event, in which participants, some of the speakers, our awesome volunteers and the Integrated Dreams’ team had the chance to reflect on the previous week and everything that we did. To start the ceremony, FIFA Council Member Tan Sri Dato Haji Hamidin Bin Haji Mohd Amin delivered a congratulatory speech, followed by José Soares with the closing remarks. Afterwards, our participants received their diplomas and we finished the night with a celebration dinner. It was the perfect end to the on-site module of the programme. We are incredibly thankful to everyone who made this possible and are really looking forward to work with the participants during the next months to implement their projects in their local communities and follow their impact!