Zaw Zaw, a powerful businessman who heads the Myanmar Football Federation, was appointed to chair FIFA's Social Responsibility Committee. Sanctioned in the past by the United States for his ties to the military, the oligarch has over the years built an influential network that links business, sports, and charity through his Ayeyarwady Foundation. Malaysia's foreign minister is in Myanmar today, while the junta’s planes, backed by China, continue to bomb civilians.

Yangon (AsiaNews) – A Myanmar magnate has been appointed chairman of FIFA's Social Responsibility Committee. Nearing 60, Zaw Zaw has survived Myanmar's various governments and managed to consolidate his influence in the sporting world.

Founder and chairman of the Max Myanmar Group conglomerate, active in the automotive import, construction, tourism, energy, and gemstone sectors, he rose under Than Shwe's military junta, when economic liberalisation opened the door to a small group of businessmen close to the army.

In 2005, Zaw Zaw became president of the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF), a role he still holds today. For a few years, his name appeared on the list of people subject to US sanctions.

He was delisted in 2016, while most sanctions against Myanmar were lifted, thanks to overtures that followed Thein Sein's reforms and the arrival of Aung San Suu Kyi in government.

The democratic leader, re-elected in 2020, was detained in February 2021 during a military coup that plunged the country into a brutal civil war.

In recent years, Zaw Zaw has continued to act as a bridge between business, sport, and charitable activities.

He sits on several committees of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which he serves as vice president. He previously served as the head of the AFC’s social responsibility committee. He has also built his public image through the Ayeyarwady Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Max Myanmar group.

Among the major projects completed in recent years are the Yankin Children's Hospital in Yangon, a complex with over 500 beds handed over to the Ministry of Health, and the construction, during the pandemic, of two large COVID-19 treatment centres in Yangon and Mandalay, two cities under the control of Myanmar’s military.

The Ayeyarwady Foundation has also played a more prominent political role. In 2017, for example, at the height of military operations in the western state of Rakhine that led to the exodus of over 700,000 Rohingya, the United Nations documented donations of 1.37 billion kyats by Zaw Zaw and his foundation to army-sponsored initiatives.

In 2023, when the head of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, launched the project for a colossal Buddha statue in Naypyidaw, the magnate embraced the initiative with significant donations.

Zaw Zaw's appointment comes at a time of great tension in Myanmar. The junta, with the support of China, is trying to retake several areas hitherto held by ethnic militias opposed to the regime, while moving forward with plans to hold elections to establish itself as the legitimate government in the eyes of the international community.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan arrived in Myanmar today to hold talks with junta leaders ahead of the election. Malaysia holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which excluded Myanmar in 2022.

Kuala Lumpur has reiterated its commitment to moving the peace process forward, but many fear that the visit is a political move to allow Myanmar back into the ASEAN.

In addition to direct military support from Russia and China, India has also recently strengthened ties with Myanmar’s military and offered to send observers to the sham elections in December.

According to various military analysts, the war in recent months appears to favour the military regime, which has strengthened its air force thanks to new drones obtained from Beijing, which is also putting pressure on some ethnic militias on the border between the two countries.

On 1 October, after more than a month of fighting, junta forces retook from the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) the strategically located town of Kyaukme, which the TNLA had captured in June last year.

Meanwhile, the military blocked access to aid to the civilian population after bombing the town of Chaung U, in the central Sagaing Region, in an attack that killed dozens of people attending a Buddhist festival vigil in a non-violent protest against the regime, Myanmar Now reports.

On Tuesday, ten more civilians, including a child, were killed in the village of Maikhuong, Shan State.

Some aid workers have raised the alarm of an impending famine in refugee camps in Kayah, a state in the east of the country, due to military checkpoints placed along the only supply route. The army had launched an offensive in the area last June.

Thai media yesterday reported further attacks against civilians with three planes dropping 40 bombs in a single day on the Myanmar-Thailand border.

At least 300 people from Myanmar had gathered in Mai Kadok, on the Myanmar side of the border, near the checkpoint, hoping to find refuge in Thailand. There are no reports of casualties.

At the start of the month, Thailand launched a pilot job programme open to Myanmar refugees. This follows tensions with Cambodia, which led to a significant exodus of Cambodian workers. However, very few permits have been granted to new refugees, giving priority to those already displaced years ago.

• myanmar
• civil war
• china
• u zaw zaw
• fifa
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• refugees
• job programme
• china
• russia
• india
• bombings