The FCSA was founded in 2007 by the charitable and independent foundation Scort, which is based in Switzerland. The network brings professional football clubs together to enable them to make a sustainable commitment to development aid. Bayer 04 has worked for many years in crisis areas and regions formerly affected by conflict.
This includes the Werkself starting 13 international projects with different modules. For example, a number of Bayer 04 coaches have worked with youth coaches in Uganda, Colombia, Vietnam and Tanzania since 2009 where they were able to share their knowledge with 726 newly trained coaches who were then able to pass that on to children and teenagers locally.
Marc-Andre Buchwalder, CEO of the Scort Foundation/Football Club Social Alliance, said: "The alliance has developed football as a sustainable instrument of development and Bayer 04 has been an integral part of this partnership for over 10 years. Thousands of young coaches in areas of conflict have benefited from their expertise and they then had a positive influence through sport on another 100,000 children. Thank you Bayer 04, thank you Leverkusen and we wish you lots of success in the Europa League."
Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04, also endorses the extension to the partnership with the FCSA: "It is very close to our hearts here at Bayer 04 to be able to provide the best possible support in areas of conflict and pass on our expertise to the young coaches locally."
On the Scort Foundation:
The Scort Foundation is a charitable, politically and religiously independent foundation based in Switzerland. They are committed to the area of 'sport for development' where sport is used as a medium to achieve different health, social and locally relevant targets. Through the development and implementation of training projects in crisis areas and regions formerly affected by conflict, Scort supports young adults who can act as community leaders in their societies. The Scort Foundation is also a partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Against this background, the Scort Foundation founded the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) in 2007. Together with Scort, the FCSA trains young adults to be children's football coaches in areas of crisis and former conflict. In their position as coaches, they can have a positive effect on the lives of countless children as role models and direct contacts.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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