Zurich, June 27 (QNA) - Following on from a record-breaking edition in 2024, the application period for the 2025-26 iteration of the FIFA Foundation Community Programme has opened giving non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world the chance to apply for funding for football-related social initiatives, FIFA announced on its website.

Launched in 2019, the FIFA Foundation Community Programme has been working with local projects that harness the power of football to effect positive social change and address the most pressing global challenges facing underprivileged children and young people within the communities in which they operate.

The programme has grown exponentially since its inception five years ago, and in the 2024 edition, applications from a record 130 NGOs from across 54 countries were accepted, benefiting 154,924 people, including 74,863 women. In total, almost one million people have benefited from FIFA Foundation Community Programme-funded initiatives.

Each applying organization is entitled to apply for funding of up to 50 percent of their annual turnover or $30,000 to help support football-related projects and initiatives within the communities in which they run. (QNA)