Three new ‘Norway Football Fields’ to open in Jordan 

AMMAN — The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) on Wednesday announced the opening of three new 5x5 football pitches as part of the “Norway Football Fields” programme, according to a statement from AFDP.

The programme, a long-term football project across Jordan, is funded by the government of Norway and runs in cooperation with the Jordan Football Association (JFA) and the Ministry of Education, the statement said. 

The football field at Al Mzayyer School in Tabarbour was inaugurated on Wednesday under the patronage of NFF’s Honorary President Per Omdal, and will be followed on Thursday by Al Hussein School in Jabal Al Hussein and Anisah Bint Kaeb School in Marka for girls, the statement read. 

The school teachers will receive coaching on the values of fair-play, in addition to field management and maintenance. 

During his visit to the Kingdom, the NFF official will be touring the existing fields, accompanied by representatives of AFDP and JFA, who supervise the technical services and organise activities in the fields. 

Since the “Norway Football Fields” programme was inaugurated in November 2013, a number of football pitches with artificial grass have been built and renovated in the Northern region where the majority of Syrian refugees in Jordan reside, the statement said.

To date, beneficiaries of the programme include boy and girl schools and sports centres in Al Azraq, Mafraq, Ramtha, Irbid and Zarqa, in addition to a girls-only pitch inside the world’s second largest refugee camp, Al Zaatari, according to the statement. 

The programme has also hosted a number of coaching seminars for Jordanian and Syrian men and women, and is planning to include workshops on teamwork and hygiene for the participating children in the near future. 

“We deeply appreciate the generosity and commitment of the Norwegian Football Federation, not only for their football development programmes, but also for motivating our Jordanian and Syrian children to interact with one another and develop a healthy attitude that can hopefully spill into their daily lives outside of the pitch,” AFDP Chairman HRH Prince Ali said.

“We are very delighted with our cooperation with the Asian Football Development Project. The sight of the children enjoying themselves on the pitches was hugely encouraging,” Per Omdal commented.

Eman Al Budoor, manager of Al Mzayyer School thanked the organisers “for keeping our children away from danger and the streets, and helping us in directing their energy towards safe play in a clean and inviting pitch”.