English Premier League club Manchester City have announced the return of their flagship global charity initiative, Cityzens Giving, and are calling on fans in Thailand to back their own project.
The initiative funds community football projects run by young people, created to tackle pressing issues affecting their communities including crime prevention, girls' empowerment and disability inclusion, the club said in a press release.
For this year, fans of City Football Group's family of clubs -- including Manchester City, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC -- will decide how a £400,000 (approximately 17 million baht) charitable fund is split by voting for one of six causes that inspires them the most.
The initiatives, which fans will be voting for, are Manchester: City Girls, New York City: Soccer Bloc, Melbourne: I Speak Football, Los Angeles: Health Goals, Guangzhou: Unified Schools, and Bangkok: Not Just For Kicks.
The more votes a project gets, the more funding it will receive.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged people to vote for Bangkok on the online voting system.
Fans in Thailand can support the project by casting their vote from Sunday to Dec 24 at www.mancity.com/cityzensgiving or www.facebook.com/righttoplaythailand.
Not Just For Kicks, initiated by Right To Play Thailand, is a crime prevention programme that will use the power of football to create safe spaces, train youth leaders, and engage vulnerable young people to keep them away from crime and gangs in Bangkok.
Niamh De Loughry, national director of Right To Play Thailand, said: "We are excited to be part of the Cityzens Giving campaign through our Not Just for Kicks project.
"This will provide safe spaces for young people in Bangkok to play football and develop life skills that promote social inclusion and crime prevention.
"As a leading international sport for development charity that uses sport and play to educate children in some of the world's poorest communities, we are grateful to Manchester City for their support to build better futures for young people in Thailand."
