«Football for Friendship» Day took place as part of «Games of the Future» in Kazan
The final match of the «Football for Friendship.Phygital 2024» tournament became the main event of the Football for Friendship Day at the «Games of the Future» in Kazan. In a bitter struggle, the «Socorro Dove» team won the championship, and the «Gobi Bear» team took second place.
The international children’s social program «Football for Friendship» has been implemented by PJSC Gazprom since 2013. The tenth anniversary season of the program takes place as part of the “Games of the Future” tournament.
The integration of «Football for Friendship» into the first international multi-sport tournament included week-long training in various formats at the Friendship Camp, sports programs, matches and interesting communication in teams – friendship teams.
All championship participants will become Young Ambassadors of Friendship for the «Football for Friendship» program.
“Being an ambassador for the «Football for Friendship» program is a great honor and responsibility. The program is known in different countries and enjoys well-deserved respect in the football world. And this year, thanks to the phygital format, the championship has become even more interesting. I can say with confidence: this is a successful mix and a very promising combination of football and e-sports” – Andrei Arshavin, the program ambassador and deputy general director of the Zenit Football Club for sports development, addressed the championship participants.
He said that he watched with interest the qualifying matches of the «Football for Friendship. Phygital 2024» championship, and noted the high level of training of young athletes.
“Our championship has become part of the «Games of the Future» this year, and our athletes are the youngest participants of the tournament. And I believe that they are the future of not only sports, but also e-sports. E-sports today is actively developing, guys will be able to realize themselves in different disciplines and become real stars” –Andrei Arshavin said.
Ambassador of the «Football for Friendship» program, managing director of the Goalkick charitable foundation (Republic of Ghana), Ali Ayornu Shaibu, said that the new format could attract even more participants from around the world.
“This program gives everyone an impetus for development. She inspired me and I organized my own charity project. We try to give our children the opportunity to develop not only in sports, but also academically. The “Football for Friendship” program is of a serious humanitarian nature, it is accessible to everyone and destroys stereotypes, teaches equality and friendship” – emphasized Ali Ayornu Shaibu.
Championship «Football for Friendship. Phygital» brought together 36 children from 13 countries: Russia, Belarus, Benin, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Romania, Macedonia, Serbia, Syria, Slovenia, Tanzania, Turkey and the Central African Republic. Six friendship teams took part in the competition, each team included two players from foreign football clubs, two players from FC Zenit (Russia, St. Petersburg) and two players from FC Rubin (Russia, Kazan).
Reference information
“The Games of the Future” is an international multi-sport tournament in the phygital concept, which will take place in Kazan from February 21 to March 3, 2024. The first ever sports show in the phygital concept combines competition in the physical and digital dimensions. The competition format involves the use of the latest developments in the field of e-sports, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, information technology and artificial intelligence. The title sponsor of “The Games of the Future” is Gazprom.
