The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) have announced the opening of three new 5×5 football pitches as part of the ‘Norway Football Fields’ program; a long-term football project across Jordan that is funded by the government of Norway and runs in cooperation with the Jordan Football Association (JFA) and the Ministry of Education.
The football field at Al Mzayyer School in Tabarbour was inaugurated today under the patronage of NFF’s Honorary President Per Omdal, and will be followed tomorrow by Al Hussein School in Jabal Al Hussein and Anisah Bint Kaeb School in Marka for girls.
The school teachers will receive coaching on the values of fairplay in addition to field management and maintenance.
During his visit to the kingdom, the NFF official will be touring the existing fields accompanied by representatives of AFDP and JFA who supervise the technical services and organize activities in the fields.
Since the ‘Norway Football Fields’ program was inaugurated in November 2013, a number of football pitches with artificial turf have been built and renovated in the Northern region where the majority of Syrian refugees in Jordan reside. Beneficiaries of the program to date include boy and girl schools and sports centers in Al Azraq, Mafraq, Ramtha, Irbid and Zarqa, in addition to a girls-only pitch inside the world’s second largest refugee camp, Al Zaatari. The program has also hosted a number of coaching seminars for Jordanian and Syrian men and women, and is planning to include workshops on teamwork and hygiene for the participating children in the near future.
“We deeply appreciate the generosity and commitment of the Norwegian Football Federation, not only for their football development programs but also for motivating our Jordanian and Syrian children to interact with one another and develop a healthy attitude that can hopefully spill into their daily lives outside of the pitch,” AFDP Chairman Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein said.
“We are very delighted with our cooperation with the Asian Football Development Project. The sight of the children enjoying themselves on the pitches was hugely encouraging,” Per Omdal commented.
Eman Al Budoor, manager of Al Mzayyer School commented: “I’d like to thank the organizers for keeping our children away from danger and the streets, and helping us in directing their energy towards safe play in a clean and inviting pitch.”