Koora Time Wins AFC Dream Asia Award

Doha: Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar Shell were named winner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Dream Asia Award at the AFC Annual Awards 2017 gala event in Hong Kong on Thursday. For the third time, QFA and Qatar Shell claimed this award for social responsibility, recognising the success of the Koora Time Initiative. The prestigious AFC Dream Asia Award is given to an outstanding Member Association in recognition and appreciation of its social development work through football.

Koora Time is a ten-year sustainable initiative designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Qatar’s youth through football. The initiative facilitates access to an additional 72 hours of physical activity over its 18-week duration and more opportunities and spaces to play football.

Since its launch in March 2013, the programme has benefitted over 17,500 children across Qatar. Last year’s programme saw a significant reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI) by 80% of participants. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

In recognition of its positive impact on the health of youth, Koora Time has been the recipient of eight awards including the 2014 & 2016 ‘Sports Industry Award’ for Best CSR Initiative, the 2015 ‘CSR Award Qatar’ for Best CSR Impact Initiative, the 2014 ‘Dar Al Sharq Corporate Social Responsibility Award’ for the Best Sports Initiative, the ‘2014 and 2016 AFC Dream of Asia Award’ in the area of social responsibility and the 2017 ‘QFA Awards’ for Best CSR Programme.

“These are exciting times for us and our partner Qatar Shell. Since Koora Time’s inauguration in March 2013, we have witnessed some truly fantastic results. These international awards acknowledge just how much we can contribute to society and we hope others are inspired to follow suit,” said Mansour Al Ansari, General Secretary, QFA.

“The Koora Time initiative is part of QFA’s CSR strategy which aims to constantly leverage on its existing partnerships to educate the communities about the positive values of playing football and inspire the youth to play more football,” he added.

“Qatar Shell seeks to go beyond philanthropic donations, supporting the Qatar National Vision in each of its four pillars by working with Qatari partners to create and deliver long term contributions to society in line with Qatar’s priorities and generating measurable impact,” said Mohammed Abu Jbara, CSR Manager, Qatar Shell.

Koora Time’s sixth season will kick off 1 October 2017. To find out more about Koora Time or to register your child for the programme, please visit www.kooratime.qa