JEDDAH: The first community football pitch built and funded by a local company was launched Monday by the Jeddah Municipality and District Council at Al-Naseem District. The project is the result of a recent campaign entitled “Build Your City a Pitch” which was kicked off by PepsiCo to support Saudi youth. The opening ceremony was attended by football lovers and prominent Saudi football stars, including Hamza Idrees, the Saudi national football player from the club Ittihad. The place was besieged by fans, media, and passersby. Ibrahim Bin Aquil, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at PepsiCo, expressed his happiness at the success of this community project. He said the campaign is aimed at developing the sport of football in the Kingdom and encouraging new generations to play. “We are dedicated to contributing to the development of society in which we have been operating for years.” He said the company was determined to help Saudi youth play the sport they love in their neighborhood. “The Jeddah Municipality and the Jeddah District Council support PepsiCo in this project. The opening will be the first of a series of football pitches in the Kingdom that will provide organized and safe facilities for youth to practice their favorite sport.” Idrees urged Saudi youth to become professional footballers and told them that local games can help them to become professionals. “Many footballers at other Saudi football clubs, including myself, played football in neighborhood grounds as youngsters. With this initiative, there is hope that even more talented youth can develop their skills with safe and well-equipped facilities and raise the flag of Saudi football.”
