Young Ambassadors selected to represent Malaysia at Football for Friendship programme in Russia

16-YEAR-OLD Imran Zakaria and 12 year old Lauren Hoh has been selected as Malaysia's representatives at the global Football for Friendship (F4F) social programme.
The F4F programme, supported by Gazprom and FIFA aims at developing youth football and a healthy lifestyle as well as promoting tolerance, open-mindedness and friendship among children from across the globe. Malaysia joins the programme for the first time and will participate alongside 210 other countries and regions.
Imran will join Young Coaches from around the world in Moscow in June 2018. The young coaches will be a part of the 32 International Teams of Friendship and train the young footballers who will play against each other in the Gazprom Football for Friendship International Championship in Russia.
The friendly tournament aims to bring together children from around the world and celebrate the unifying spirit of football. Imran will act as a young coach for one of these teams and train the 12 year old players in his team for the championship.
Lauren will act as the young journalist and cover all the local and global activities of the F4F program as part of the International Children's Press Centre. She will also spread awareness on the Nine Values (friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions and honour) of the F4F program.
Imran and Lauren will also participate in the Sixth Football for Friendship International Children's Forum, which will allow youngsters to meet their peers from other countries, share their experiences, and discuss with famous footballers and journalists on how to promote key values of the F4F Programme around the world
The sixth season of the F4F programme will conclude with a visit by the participating children to the opening ceremony and the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2018
Born and brought up in Subang Jaya, Imran started playing football at the age of 4. A passionate footballer, Imran has been named the Most Valuable Player in numerous football tournaments across the country. Imran wants his experience in Russia to inspire kids in Malaysia and pave the way for future young coaches from the country.
This talented, young footballer believes it is important to promote friendship, equality and peace because he believes that we need each of these three things to brighten our world.
Lauren is a football enthusiast, writer and an avid reader. A Manchester City fan, Lauren started playing football at the age of eight and is the only girl in her local football team. Apart from football, Lauren also enjoys playing tennis and badminton.
A firm believer in the power of friendship, she believes that everyone should help one another and respect each other regardless of one's ethnicity, gender, religion and status.
Speaking on the selection of the young ambassadors by the Football Association of Malaysia, general secretary, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said "The selection of the young ambassadors from Malaysia is an extension of our support to this unique global initiative.
The program is a wonderful opportunity for the ambassadors to build ties of friendship among children from around the world and foster peace and harmony through the beautiful game of football. We wish our young ambassadors all the best for the program and look forward to their contribution in promoting the key values of the program, in Russia, as well as in Malaysia".