AIA brings together members of the community and Tottenham Hotspur to enable healthier, longer, better lives in Singapore

Singapore, 20 July 2019 — Aspiring footballers, families, and national heroes were amongst those who joined forces with a star-studded AIA Squad today, to set the record for Singapore’s fastest consecutive football passes with 100 people at 2 minute 3 seconds. Alongside the stars of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Spurs), the record-setting milestone rallied local communities to raise funds and make dreams come true for beneficiaries of Children’s Wishing Well – AIA Singapore’s adopted charity.

With the support of Stranger Soccer, Urban Street Team, and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), AIA Singapore launched #AIASquadGoals – a campaign to call on the power of the community to form a Squad that sets out to inspire Singaporeans to take charge of their health and nurture an inclusive society where there’s opportunities to succeed regardless of background. Upon completion of squad goals, AIA Singapore will send two aspiring young footballers from Children’s Wishing Well to an all-expense paid elite training camp with Tottenham Hotspur Global Development coaches this December to hone their footballing skills.

Today, #AIASquadGoals culminated in the winning S$500 bid of the AIA football responsible for setting the Singapore record – autographed by Spurs players – in an auction immediately following the record-setting achievement at AIA Fan Zone ahead of the 2019 International Champions Cup (ICC) Singapore Presented by AIA Singapore matches this weekend. Spectators and Spurs fans were also treated to an auction of rare autographed Tottenham Hotspur collectables and a chance to get up close and personal with their football heroes. Proceeds went towards AIA Centennial Fund that supports fundraising dedicated to supporting education and children in need from Children’s Wishing Well.

Ms Ho Lee Yen, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at AIA Singapore shared, “At AIA Singapore, we are deeply committed to engaging our customers and the community as well as doing our part to make an impact to the lives of our future generations. Through the #AIASquadGoals challenge, we want to make a real difference through sports. We are heartened to see people from all walks of life – young or old, football fan or not – coming together to build an inclusive community. This is what the AIA Squad is all about. As we continue to celebrate AIA’s 100 years in Asia this year, we are committed to doing more to walk alongside our customers and the community into the next 100 years and beyond.”

Former national football players and homegrown football legends Nazri Nasir and Samawira Basri were also part of the 100-strong AIA Squad. Nazri shared his experience, “Today’s record achievement is testament to the fact that football is a universal activity that brings people from all walks of life to work together as a team in order to accomplish a momentous feat. It is made all the more worthwhile when in doing so, we are able to support a noble cause in the form of the Children’s Wishing Well. Sports is an incredibly powerful platform that should never be overlooked, especially when it comes to training and developing our youths. I’m grateful to be a part of this opportunity to inspire more young talents to get active and achieve their dreams.”

Earlier in June, AIA Singapore kicked off its collaboration with FAS as part of its continuing commitment to promote progress of local football with youth development and coaching initiatives. Fandi Ahmad’s Young Lions squad had the chance to be trained by Tottenham Hotspur Global Development coaches during their visit to Singapore for the ICC Presented by AIA pre-season friendly matches. The training was conducted as part of Spurs’ coach exchange programme with FAS and the AIA Singapore Premier League, courtesy of AIA, to exchange best practices to continuously raise the profile of football in Singapore and nurturing young talents. This was then followed by a second session on 18 July where more than 35 youth coaches from across the island were put through their paces on some of the best practices in technical training built on to a game form. Conducted at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the session provided valuable insights and a different perspective to what the coaches were accustomed to.

As the global principal partner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, first-ever presenting sponsor of the ICC, and title sponsorship of the AIA Singapore Premier League, AIA Singapore has been engaging the community through football to promote active and healthy living, as well as fostering the values of teamwork, discipline, and sportsmanship, especially among youths. 37 kids who were selected to become mascots for the 2019 ICC Presented by AIA matches during last month’s AIA Football Kids Camp will be paired up with football stars from the four clubs – Manchester United, Inter, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur – to walk down the pitch this weekend. This December 2019, 22 of the selected kids will go for a more in-depth training programme led by Spurs’ Global Football Development, sponsored by AIA, at Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort in Phuket, Thailand, together with the two children from Children’s Wishing Well.

For upcoming activities, members of the public can look forward to AIA Family Fest from 10-11 August 2019, organised specially for families and loved ones to come together and bond over a thrilling line-up of activities over the National Day weekend. This year’s festival will look to continuing AIA Singapore’s commitment to inspire families to get active and to support education, wellness, and enrichment programmes for youths from disadvantaged backgrounds. From football clinics led by AIA Singapore Premier League teams to Spartan Kids’ obstacles, participate in adventures that will be the blueprint of our future.

This series of initiatives is part of AIA’s 100-year Centennial celebrations across Asia this year, which continues to inspire more Singaporeans with a passion for sports and football to live healthier, longer, better lives.

Notes to editor:

For social media mentions, please use:

• Hashtags: #AIASG #AIASquadGoals #AIA100 #HealthierLongerBetterLives #AIATHFC #ICCSG

About AIA

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$221 billion as of 30 June 2018.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of 32 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”). AIA Singapore.