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COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY Baghdad, Iraq Contact: Shane
Wolfe Baghdad, Iraq…September 18, 2003— The United Kingdom’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has teamed up with Chelsea Football Club, Sven-Goran Eriksson and the global humanitarian organization Care International to help underprivileged children in Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority and Iraq’s Ministry of Youth and Sport today expressed gratitude to the group which is collecting new and used football clothes for distribution to Iraqi children. "We thank the UK Sports Minister, Richard Caborn and all the people who work with him for this wonderful initiative, which will strengthen the relationship with the UK and further open the doors of friendship between the Iraqi and British people,” said Ali Fa’aq Al-Gabban, Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sport. “This first step will help to kick-start the youth movement in Iraq which suffered under the policies of the ousted regime and still suffers as a result of the damaged sport infrastructure. We hope that this will spur other countries, organization, and figures to come forward and help raise the spirits of the young people of Iraq." In addition to collecting football clothing, the organizers of the effort hope to raise $1.6 million (£1 million) to support future youth and sport programs in Iraq.
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