CAIRO: Young football talents in Egypt will get a chance to showcase their skills in front of their idol, Ahly icon Mohamed Abou-Trika as part of Samsung Electronics' campaign launched in cooperation with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA). The "Samsung Next Hero Campaign, launched Thursday brings together more than 1,000 young aspiring football players between the ages of 9-14, of whom 10 will be chosen and given the opportunity to train at one of the best international European football academies. Egyptian star Abou-Trika was announced as the campaign's ambassador. "It is a great honor for me to be chosen as an ambassador for this campaign because it is very important that we bridge sports and issues facing society, Abou-Trika said. "Participating in this campaign was one of the goals I set for myself; I will try to give them my experience as a football player because they are the future generation who can bring happiness to the Egyptian people, he added. The selection process will take place through a futsal tournament that will take place during Ramadan, with participants from 90 youth centers in Cairo and Giza. Experts from the EFA will choose the best players to be trained in Europe. "We chose to start with Cairo and Giza because it will be easy to group the players together but there are plans to expand the circle of chosen talents from all the governorates of Egypt, said Hazem El Hawary, board member of the EFA. El Hawary also said that plans are underway for Samsung to sponsor one of the junior varsity national teams. The EFA will also help promote the best talents with Egyptian clubs. "The idea behind this campaign springs from our belief in social responsibility and its importance. [Social responsibility] has become a part of our strategy all over the world including Egypt, one of the biggest countries in the region which buzzes with young talents, said Dongeon Lim, general manger of Samsung MEA said. He also revealed future plans to sponsor young talents in other sports. Samsung, a global leader in the mobile phone industry, also sponsors Chelsea football club team, the African Cup of Nations as well as many other sports events and teams around the world. The campaign plans to continue unearthing young talents until 2012.
