A formal opening ceremony at the Kampot Stadium marked the start of the Championships league of the School of Football Talent initiative by the Football Federation of Cambodia, in partnership with 100% Cambodian owned telco, Cellcard.

The partnership between the FFC and Cellcard which was signed in May this year aims to provide a platform to promote the sport, provide training, engage local communities, and realize the shared aspiration of finding new football stars in time for the 2023 South East Asian Games.

The Championships comes as the second leg of the initiative which started earlier this year with football camps in FFC selected schools across 12 provinces, which now culminates with a championship league.

The opening ceremony held in Kampot sets an exciting tone for the upcoming games with the addition of a mini concert to an otherwise formal event.

The event was officiated by the Minister of Education, H.E. Hang Chun Naron and H.E. Sao Sokha Naron. and Cellcard’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Laszlo Barta, while, Cellcard Brand Ambassadors, Polarix, adds to the excitement with a live performance of the Cellcard youth activation brand, LightUpKh, theme song.

396 teams in the U-14 and U-16 categories from all 25 provinces will be participating in the Championships, with a total of 21 matches from November 2017 until March 2018.

“We are very excited to roll out a nationwide initiative around an activity that is close to the hearts of the Cambodian people, promotes national pride, and benefits the youth and the local communities. We hope that through this partnership we can help build interest and talent in the sport and hopefully see Cambodia outperform our neighbors in competitive tournaments such as the SEA Games.” – Laszlo Barta

The School of Football Talent in partnership with the FFC is the first significant project under Cellcard’s new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Charter which is aimed at improving the daily lives of Cambodians through Education, Health and Housing initiatives.

Championship match schedules, results and highlights are available on Cellcard Facebook Page.