‘Future4Nepal’ and ‘Literacy for Life Foundation’ to receive support from
Australia’s pre-eminent football festival in lead-up to the Women’s World Cup
Football Writers Festival to be held in Sydney from 15-17 July 2023 featuring international and local football writers and thought leaders
10 January 2023: Returning for a special edition on the eve of the 2023 Women’s Football World
Cup in Australia, the 2023 Football Writers Festival – which is dedicated to dissecting and
discussing the beautiful game for readers, writers, thinkers, and dreamers – today announces the
appointment of two charity partners.
Future4Nepal is the festival’s chosen football charity partner.
It is a recent initiative of former German international, Thomas Hitzlsperger, to help families in a
Nepalese village impacted by the deaths of migrant workers who helped build infrastructure for
the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Hitzlsperger, who is co-founder of Future4Nepal, will be amongst
the featured guests at the festival.
Aboriginal-run charity, Literacy for Life Foundation, is the Football Writers Festival’s Australian
charity partner, supporting its simple but powerful mission to assist Aboriginal adults hoping to
improve their reading and writing.
The two organisations will receive an equal share of 25% of ticket and book sales at the festival.
Hitzlsperger, who is a diversity ambassador for the German FA and football commentator, played
52 games for the German national team between 2004 and 2010. He recently hosted a
documentary on the Qatar World Cup on Germany’s national broadcaster ARD entitled Katar,
warum nur? (Qatar, why?).
Hitzlsperger says he was inspired to start Future4Nepal by a family he had met during filming of
the documentary who had been devastated by the loss of their husband and father who had died
building 2022 World Cup infrastructure. In conjunction with Nepal-based partners, Hitzlsperger
plans to raise sufficient funds to build a school and sporting field to help develop economic
independence for Nepalese children.
“It’s super exciting to be part of the Football Writers Festival and to talk to people in Australia
about Future4Nepal, as well as the beautiful game especially while the Women’s World Cup is
on.
“I am really looking forward to travelling to Australia for the first time since I was there on the way
to the Under 17 World Cup in 1999.”
Hitzlsperger spearheads an impressive list of international visitors to the festival who will be
announced soon.
Executive Director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, Professor Jack Beetson says: “It is
wonderful to be part of the Football Writers Festival and to receive support for our Aboriginal adult
literacy initiatives.
“Our latest research shows the beneficial impacts of a First Nations, community-controlled, adult
literacy campaign. Improving literacy facilitates greater uptake of health services, better school
attendance for children, new pathways to employment, and reduced reported interactions
between Aboriginal adults and police.
“The funds we receive from the Football Writers Festival will support the roll-out of our campaigns
in our communities.”
As with previous editions of the Football Writers Festival, panels and sessions will feature in-
depth analyses and debate on the biggest issues affecting football at grassroots, club, national
and international level, as well as some more light-hearted sessions accessible for even the most
casual observer of the game.
Looking to uncover new female talent of tomorrow off the field, the Football Writers Festival will
also feature winning entries and authors selected from the Emerging Women Writers program
that was launched last year. The Emerging Women Writers program is a global initiative to find
and nurture future female football authors and journalists.
The international guest authors and speakers who will be joining Hitzlsperger at the 2023 Football
Writers Festival will be announced later this month, along with Early Bird ticket packages.
