Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, a star of hit TV series Game of Thrones, recently joined staff from the Chelsea FC International Development Centre in Bangkok for the latest edition of the Global Goals World Cup, a series of special football tournaments to help raise awareness of female empowerment in the community.
Working together with our partners in Thailand, NIST International School and the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), the Chelsea Foundation helped to host the Bangkok leg of the tournament, which proved a huge hit with participants and spectators in the Thai capital.
More than 1,000 people attended the event at the NIST campus as 16 women’s teams from across Thailand came together to compete in the one-day event, which was both meaningful and fun for all involved.
Special guest Coster-Waldau, who is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, joined the action in Bangkok as a referee. He praised the efforts of the participating teams and thanked the Foundation for working in collaboration with NIST to help the UNDP achieve their sustainable goals.
'I just want to give a shout-out and a big thank you to Chelsea Football Club and their Foundation for the amazing support they provide out here in Asia, helping communities and using the beautiful game of football to bring people together,' said the actor, who is best known for his role as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones.
Winning the matches was not all that mattered with additional points also awarded to the teams for their creative styles, their efforts to mobilise the crowd to support them and their actions to promote the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals.
The participating teams included a squad representing Chelsea’s club partners Carabao, who displayed their fine football skills on the pitch as well as raising awareness off it for their chosen cause of good health and well-being.
Chelsea Foundation regional football development officer Laurence Griffin said: ‘No matter where you’re from, where you were brought up, your age, gender, ability or beliefs, football is a universal language that brings people together and can be used as a powerful vehicle to help raise awareness for a fantastic cause.
‘Not only have we been able to raise awareness but have also helped to provide the wider community with fantastic opportunities and football programmes for all.’
Majken Gilmartin, the co-founder of the Global Goals World Cup added: ‘Sport has a unique power to unite all kinds of people around the common goal of making the world better. This work with Chelsea, NIST and UNDP is a perfect example of the kinds of innovative alliances that are needed in order to accelerate progress towards sustainable development.’
