UAE-wide campaign launched by Manchester City FC to get more girls playing football

Manchester City Football Club has announced that it is running a new programme in the UAE to encourage more young female footballers to play the sport.

It is part of the club’s global initiative called "Same Goals" which will run until the end of the season.

Organised by City Football Schools UAE - which operates in Abu Dhabi and Dubai - the #SameGoals training sessions aim to provide girls with even more opportunity to play the game and inspire the next generation of female footballers.

It was launched at the Armed Forces Officer Club in Abu Dhabi, where more than 75 girls of all nationalities took part in skill challenges and played in a mini-tournament.

City Football Schools in the UAE now has their first female coach, former Manchester City player Elle Charney, who was delighted with the response throughout the first series of coaching sessions.

She said, "What has been amazing is to see so many girls from different backgrounds loving to play football and really wanting to improve as much as possible.

"In Manchester we have heard about the success of City Football Schools in the UAE and through Same Goals we can take that to more young female footballers which is fantastic.

"On a personal level, as the first female coach coming from Manchester to the UAE, I want to really show the girls that there are no barriers at all to them playing and challenging themselves – it is going to be great to coach them and follow and nurture that progress."

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