On a Saturday afternoon in April 2006, as excitement around the World Cup built, a young Malaysian boy called Faisal drowned trying to fetch an old football from the Gombak River. Faisal’s town didn’t have safe spaces to play, and his parents could not afford to buy him a football, let alone send him to training. He risked, and lost, his life to play football.
Following this tragedy, Dignity for Children wanted to make sure no child would ever have to risk their life again to play football. The organisation, which provides education for disadvantaged children, wanted equal opportunities to play football safely.
AFDP joined forces with Dignity for Children in 2012 to run The Faisal Cup, football and netball tournaments around Malaysia. In 2013, our support allowed girls football tournaments to be introduced in the country for the very first time.
The Faisal Cup continues to organise tournaments in safe spaces and provides boys and girls with footballs across Malaysia.
