May 10 – FedEx Express Europe and the UEFA Foundation for Children have partnered in a new charitable collaboration with Kick It Out, the UK non-profit group campaigning to support people from under-represented and minority communities to make a career in football.
As part of a three-year FedEx-UEFA Foundation agreement, Kick It Out will benefit from $100,000 for their Coach Pathway Programme, aimed specifically at supporting Black and Asian young adults in the UK pursue careers in football coaching and management.
The campaign will allow a cohort of up to 15 Black and Asian football managers and coaches to be aided through development, benefitting from access to mentors, opportunities to see top coaches in action, and interactions with senior coaching representatives from English Football.
Alongside the charitable funding, FedEx and the UEFA Foundation for Children will combine to create the opportunity for children put forward by Kick It Out to provide three referee mascots for the UEFA Champions League Final 2024 at Wembley Stadium as Borussia Dortmund return to London 11 years on from Der Klassiker heartbreak, this time meeting 14-time winners Real Madrid.
Troy Townsend, Head of Player Engagement, Kick It Out said: “There is a lack of Black and Asian managers, coaches and talent identification scouts applying their trade in the professional sector in English football. Thanks to this collaboration with the UEFA Foundation, Kick It Out have managed to provide funded opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds.’’
Urs Kluser, General Secretary, UEFA Foundation for Children said: “We’re delighted to continue the diversity, equity, and inclusion program we co-developed with FedEx, by welcoming Kick It Out as a new partner. This year’s program shifts the focus from children to young adults, benefitting a non-profit that not only uses football to promote diversity, but aims to improve and maintain diversity from a grassroots level right through to professional levels of the sport itself.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734956331labto1734956331ofdlr1734956331owedi1734956331sni@g1734956331niwe.1734956331yrrah1734956331