Dave Letele and Fifa president Gianna Infantino in Sydney. Infantino donated $50,000 to Letele's BBM charity.

'The right thing to do': Fifa president donates $50k to BBM charity

Author: Joseph Los'e,
Publish Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2023, 2:45pm

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

World football boss Gianni Infantino has left a $50,000 impression on Dave Letele and his BBM charity.

In honour of the F ifa Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand, Letele was invited to Sydney yesterday to receive the donation from ️Infantino and Jane Leibowitz - Fifa’s human rights manager for New Zealand and Australia.

Letele told the Herald he got a call from a contact at Celebrity Speakers New Zealand to urgently call Jane Leibowitz from Fifa.

“I did and Jane told me they love our work and that they are donating $50,000 to BBM!” Letele said.

“So I jumped on a plane to attend a very special community event where local teams were playing on the unity pitch in front of the Sydney Opera House.”

BBM charity boss Dave Letele and Chloe Wighton from NASCA, an Australian indigenous charity at the Sydney Opera House yesterday.

Letele said the event was surreal and the donation was made because he was told by Fifa “it’s the right thing to do”.

“It was so surreal to walk out with the teams, and be presented with the cheque, and have them talk about our work. I got to meet Fifa president Gianni Infantino who presented the cheque to us. What a great guy!,” Letele said.

“I’m sooo humbled that our work is getting noticed around the world by massive organisations.

“It was great to connect with the Chloe Wighton from community group NASCA, who also received a $50k donation! They empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander youth to thrive.

“Thank you Jane Leibowitz , Frank de Redelijkheid , Laure Gruffat and everyone that was involved. What a epic experience that I’ll never forget.”

Dave Letele Gianna Infantino and Chloe Wigton from Australian indigenous group NASCA, who also received a $50k donation.

Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for 12 years for Te Whānau o Waipareira.