Although football is an extremely accessible sport, there are always children and young people who find it tougher to get involved for various reasons. Luckily, there are many projects and organisations around the world that tackle precisely this problem and are supported by FIFA as part of the FIFA Foundation.

One of these organisations, NO Fond Podelis Teplom, is located in Russia and is committed to integrating children with illnesses into groups of healthy children, supporting orphans, promoting social equality and helping people to help themselves.

NO Fond Podelis Teplom profile

"Football is not just a game for our children," say NO Fond Podelis Teplom. "It also offers a way to socialise and adapt for orphans and children with limiting health conditions. Football is a team sport that not only improves the health and sporting skills of our boys and girls but also teaches them to help each other, communicate and build friendships."

With a presence in Moscow, Pskov, Ryazan, Ivanovo, Voronezh, Vladimir, Tver, Kaluga and Yaroslavl, the organisation is supported by both the FIFA Foundation and CSKA Moscow.

"Although we are only making a small difference, we believe that this is something we should do and that anyone can lend a hand in a difficult situation when children need our help," said CSKA sporting director Roman Babayev. "We are all collectively responsible for these children and can make their lives a little better and more fun."

With this in mind, Podelis Teplom and CSKA jointly hosted a charity tournament for boys and girls from Russian children’s homes and special schools last September. The motto of the competition was: 'We can do it ourselves'.

"We are grateful to everyone who supported our tournament and our 'We can do it ourselves' programme and thus helped our children to prove themselves," said Maria Kuzminova, president of NO Fond Podelis Teplom. "We are creating true champions!"