Football Federation Australia (FFA) has been confirmed as a partner for the Australian Government's Australia now 2019 campaign, which will focus on the ASEAN region.
An Australian Government initiative, the Australia now campaign is a celebration of Australia delivered annually in a country or region of significance to Australia.
FFA's involvement in the Australia now ASEAN 2019 campaign will focus on three areas, supported by the Australian Government.
1) Showcasing ASEAN through additional coverage of Australia's youth national teams in the area;
A number of Australian Youth National Teams will travel to the ASEAN region in the second half of 2019 to participate in Asian Football Confederation and ASEAN Football Federation tournaments.
On some of these trips FFA will send a media officer with the team, who will be responsible for providing a deeper level of coverage and content production, making it easier for Australian fans to follow the progress of the teams at these tournaments.
2) Supporting fellow ASEAN Member Associations with projects;
FFA has collaborated with a number of ASEAN Member Associations as part of its commitment to being a member of the ASEAN Football Federation. This has included conducting development workshops for female football administrators, running coaching clinics and grassroots activities, consulting on strategic initiatives and running joint activities with national teams.
FFA has already worked with the Lao Football Federation as part of the Australia now ASEAN 2019 campaign with a jointly-delivered grassroots clinic for young girls and a panel discussion about women in football delivered around International Women's Day, while the Westfield Junior Matildas were in Vientiane, Laos for AFC qualifiers. Further collaborative opportunities will be explored across the remainder of the program.
3) Providing an Australian perspective at ASEAN government conferences in the region.
Periodically in the ASEAN region, there are conferences focused on sport and physical health. FFA will provide expert speakers to share Australian experiences.
One of these activities was delivered last week, with FFA's Boys Youth Development Manager Kevin Grima travelling to Yangon and Naypyidaw to meet with the Myanmar Football Federation and speak at an ASEAN conference about the role of physical education and sport in the Australian education curriculum.
FFA's Chief Operating Officer and Head of International Relations, Mark Falvo, said: "We're very pleased to continue our long-term collaboration with the Australian Government internationally, through our involvement in the Australia now ASEAN 2019 campaign. This confirmation comes only a few months after Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced the Sports Diplomacy 2030 Strategy."
"Football is the world game, and our organisation's activity supports that statement - our national teams have played an international fixture, on average, every seven days over the last four years. Our International Relations department has worked with more than 40 countries and 20 Australian Embassies over the same period."
"Involvement in the Australia now ASEAN 2019 campaign will allow us to explore additional opportunities for collaboration with our fellow ASEAN Member Associations, and we're also pleased that we'll be able to offer additional coverage of our Youth National Teams to Australian fans - something that has been requested."
FFA has previously been a partner of the Australia now campaign, being involved in the 2017 program, when the focus country was Germany.
That year saw FFA and the German Football Association (DFB) sign a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the delivery of coach education in Indonesia, in partnership with the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The program, still ongoing, has seen FFA assist with the development of Indonesia's coaching curriculum and more than 600 coaches and teachers in Indonesia accredited with coaching licenses.
