WorldCoaches and Prince Ali sign agreement to build football pitches in Jordan

Gijs de Jong, Secretary General of the KNVB, in Jordan for WorldCoaches. - Foto: KNVB Media

AFDP Global and KNVB WorldCoaches signed an agreement on Monday 6 October for the construction of two new pitches in Jordan. Gijs de Jong (Secretary General of the KNVB) and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (Founder of AFDP Global and President of the Jordan Football Association) signed the agreement during a festive ceremony in Amman.

‘Together with our partners, we want to use football to improve young people's prospects,’ said De Jong in Jordan. ‘A football pitch is never just a piece of grass. It is a safe place to play. A place where WorldCoaches can carry out their activities. A place where children come together. A place where communities grow stronger.’

His words echoed those of Prince Ali, who emphasised how important sport can be for positive change. ‘At AFDP Global, we empower young people to develop themselves, we build safe spaces and we use football to inspire, educate and connect communities – to create lasting change that starts on the pitch and spreads far beyond.’

Shiraka programme

The project is part of the Shiraka programme, which has been running throughout the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) since 2022. With Shiraka, which means partnership in Arabic, the KNVB aims to use football to improve the economic prospects and social participation of vulnerable young people between the ages of 10 and 35. The pitches are being constructed on school grounds in East Amman and Zarqa. This programme is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In recent years, Shiraka has reached various regions in Jordan: from the capital Amman to Irbid in the north, to Aqaba in the south. In collaboration with UNHCR, courses were also organised in the Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps, where a total of 130,000 Syrians reside. Here, the host community and refugees were brought together.

To date, 222 participants have been trained in Jordan, almost half of whom are women. They coach nearly 9,000 children every week.

Why build pitches?

There is a shortage of (access to) such spaces, especially in poor neighbourhoods such as East Amman and Zarqa.

• They offer children from schools and the surrounding community a safe place to play.
• Fields offer opportunities: participants can not only organise activities, but also set up academies around these fields and generate income from them.
• Fields are more than just a place to play; they often grow into community centres.

Stella Kloth, ambassador of the Dutch embassy in Jordan, also expresses her wishes for the project. ‘With these two fields, we hope to offer Jordanian youth a place where they can come together, learn from each other and perhaps one day represent their country at the World Cup.’

The pitches are scheduled to be completed in 2026, so that even more young people can pursue their dreams.