Man City owner City Football Group "has committed to funding a Special Olympics project in Beijing, China, for the next three years." The Special Olympics project "is aimed at young people with intellectual disabilities and is part of the club’s Cityzens Giving campaign, which sees fans vote for one of six projects" that will receive a share of a £400,000 ($521,800) charitable fund.
CFG "has been putting down roots in China having taken on a 13% investment from a China Media Capital-led consortium last year" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 8/16).
A top-flight match in Sweden "had to be abandoned when the goalkeeper for Ostersund was attacked by a masked intruder." Aly Keita "was knocked to the ground by the unidentified man who was bundled away by players and stewards while the goalkeeper was given medical attention." The game was called off with match delegate Nicklas Bengtsson saying Keita was "not fit" to play on (London GUARDIAN, 8/16).
The UAE FA "launched an initiative to encourage football fans in the Emirates to support the national team" in its quest to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The governing body, led by FA President Marwan bin Ghalita, "introduced #Together_We_Can, a social media campaign that encourages the use of the hashtag designed to unite the country behind Mahdi Ali’s team." The FA hopes the new social media initiative "will generate interest in the national team" and thus help push the UAE to only its second appearance at a World Cup (THE NATIONAL, 8/15).
