Returning for a special edition on the eve of the 2023 Women’s Football World Cup in Australia, the 2023 Football Writers Festival – which is dedicated to dissecting and discussing the beautiful game for readers, writers, thinkers, and dreamers – today announces the appointment of two charity partners.
Future4Nepal is the festival’s football charity partner.
It is a recent initiative of former German international, Thomas Hitzlsperger, to help families in a Nepalese village impacted by the deaths of migrant workers who helped build infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Hitzlsperger, who is co-founder of Future4Nepal, will be amongst the featured guests at the festival.
Aboriginal-run charity, Literacy for Life Foundation, is the Football Writers Festival’s Australian charity partner, supporting its simple but powerful mission to assist Aboriginal adults hoping to improve their reading and writing.
The two organisations will receive an equal share of 25% of ticket and book sales at the festival.
Hitzlsperger, who is a diversity ambassador for the German FA and football commentator, played 52 games for the German national team between 2004 and 2010. He recently hosted a documentary on the Qatar World Cup on Germany’s national broadcaster ARD entitled Katar, warum nur? (Qatar, why?).
Hitzlsperger says he was inspired to start Future4Nepal by a family he had met during filming of the documentary who had been devastated by the loss of their husband and father who had died building 2022 World Cup infrastructure. In conjunction with Nepal-based partners, Hitzlsperger plans to raise sufficient funds to build a school and sporting field to help develop economic independence for Nepalese children.
“It’s super exciting to be part of the Football Writers Festival and to talk to people in Australia about Future4Nepal, as well as the beautiful game especially while the Women’s World Cup is on.
“I am really looking forward to travelling to Australia for the first time since I was there on the way to the Under 17 World Cup in 1999.”
Executive Director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, Professor Jack Beetson says: “It is wonderful to be part of the Football Writers Festival and to receive support for our Aboriginal adult literacy initiatives.
“Our latest research shows the beneficial impacts of a First Nations, community-controlled, adult literacy campaign. Improving literacy facilitates greater uptake of health services, better school attendance for children, new pathways to employment, and reduced reported interactions between Aboriginal adults and police.
“The funds we receive from the Football Writers Festival will support the roll-out of our campaigns in our communities.”
As with previous editions of the Football Writers Festival, panels and sessions will feature in-depth analyses and debate on the biggest issues affecting football at grassroots, club, national and international level, as well as some more light-hearted sessions accessible for even the most casual observer of the game.
Looking to uncover new female talent of tomorrow off the field, the Football Writers Festival will also feature winning entries and authors selected from the Emerging Women Writers program that was launched last year. The Emerging Women Writers program is a global initiative to find and nurture future female football authors and journalists.
The international guest authors and speakers who will be joining Hitzlsperger at the 2023 Football Writers Festival will be announced later this month, along with Early Bird ticket packages.
