ABU DHABI — The UAE Pro League has become the first governing body in the Middle East to launch a pioneering 'Child Safeguarding' program aimed at ensuring children can enjoy their right to play football in a safe and inclusive environment, and preventing any risk of harm to children involved in the game.

The initiative is part of the UAE Pro League's commitment to promoting and protecting the safety and welfare of children, in line with FIFA's stated objective to ensure that involvement in football, in any form, is a positive experience for all children.

Set to be implemented in collaboration with Ministry of Interior Child Protection Center, MOI CPC, and by working in alignment with the AFC and FIFA, the UAE Pro League's safeguarding initiative targets four core objectives.

The are: Implementing safeguarding measures to create a safe football environment for children, facilitate the reporting of concerns, ensuring swift investigation of concerns, and increasing awareness of children safety and protection within clubs.

Waleed Al Hosani, UAE Pro League CEO, expressed his delight with the launch of the program, explaining, "Child protection and welfare have always been a priority for the UAE's leadership, and it is our role to work with organizations such as FIFA, The AFC, UAE FA and the Ministry of Interior to ensure children of the UAE are safeguarded within the football environment.

Dato' Windsor John, the AFC general secretary, congratulated the UAE Pro League and said, "The AFC Executive Committee pledged to make safeguarding a key initiative when they met in November 2018 and we are delighted that so many stakeholders, like the UAE Pro League, have followed our lead.

“We congratulate them and wish them the very best of success with their ground-breaking safeguarding initiatives which provide a strong lead for many other Member Associations and Leagues in Asia."

This important initiative is in line with the principles and practical steps outlined in the FIFA Guardians toolkit. — WAM