The Asean Football Federation (AFF) recently turned-over a donation of USD100,000 to the Philippine Football Federation in aid of the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan.
The donation came about through the efforts of the Asean All-Stars in a match that was played at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium against the Indonesian National side which scored the only goal of the game through Talaohu Abdul Mushafry.
The Asean All-Stars was coached by Datuk K. Rajagobal of Malaysia and featured some of the best Asean players and included notable players such as Singapore’s Shahril Ishak, voted AFF Most Valuable Player in 2012, and also Vietnam hitman Le Cong Vinh.
The Charity Match which succeeded in raising a total of USD 50,000, was matched by the AFF Council to bring the total up to USD 100,000 and is scheduled to be used as part of the “Adopt- a-School” program which aims to replace schools and classrooms destroyed by the typhoon.
Official data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council of the Philippines showed that in the areas that stood in the path of the typhoon, 5900 classrooms were totally destroyed with 14,508 partially damaged.
This initiative was selected due to the long term benefits and the pressing need for school children to return to normalcy and mirrors the efforts made in 2012 by the AFF and the PFF in response to typhoon Bopha.
“The AFF is indeed pleased with the outcome of the match as we have met the intention which has been set which is to give the idea of an ASEAN All-Stars Team a test match and also at the same time give due consideration to the victims of typhoon Haiyan,” said Lt Gen Dato’ Azzuddin Ahmad (Retired), the general secretary of the AFF.
“More importantly, this demonstrates the power of football to give hope to those affected by this tragedy,” he added.
