The winners of the 2021 International Football for Friendship Award announced
The winners of the F4F Award were announced on May 29 during the Grand Final of the Ninth Season of the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship. All the presented projects are focused on developing children’s football and solving current problems in this area. Each project offers effective mechanics to solve problems in children’s football around the world. The Expert Council carefully reviewed applications from football academies around the world and selected the most promising. The final presentation was held online.
The projects were presented in 4 nominations, in accordance with the Nine Values of the programme.
The victory in the first nomination “Nine Football for Friendship Values” went to the project “Empowering Grassroots Academies: The AFCAI Project”. It was presented by the Minerva Academy Football Club from India. The main problem that the academy seeks to solve is the lack of opportunities and resources for the development of small and local academies. As a solution, it was proposed to create an association that would unite football clubs and academies in India.
The best project in the category “Health, Peace & Devotion” – “Help a child change the future” presented by the OHRAA, Academy from Afghanistan. This is an already operating social project that helps poor people get decent jobs. Thus, it is proposed to reduce the level of street crime, protect children from a hard life, and give them the necessary skills.
In the nomination “Friendship, Equality & Fairness” won the active project “Football for Everyone” from Unity Through Football from Sri Lanka. The Academy presented the concept of uniting children in communities. This is directly aimed at solving social problems in Sri Lanka. Special attention is paid to the development of girls in football.
The best project in the category “Victory, Tradition & Honor” – “The Mustangs” presented by Baller’s Football Academy from India. The main idea is to unite children in mixed teams to play with completely different people from all over the world. In the process, children get to know the culture and values of other countries, girls have the opportunity to play on an equal basis with boys.
There was also a special “For building peace” Award for the “Promotion of Peace Through Football” project presented by the Sporting Club de Lome from Togo. The goal of the project is to resolve the conflict between the warring children of Togo and Ghana through playing football. As a result, the children became friends.
“The Coaching Ability in Football from the Disabled Coach” project from Indonesia also received a special award “For will and devotion”. Stamford Indonesia FC invites attention to disabled adult coaches. The programme has developed a comprehensive development plan for coaches in Indonesia.
Best Project of Non-Competitive Program – Russian Federation: “Grand Festival of Football” from Gazprom Academy, FC Zenit. The programme is also aimed at developing football in the regions of Russia and giving young players the opportunity to become professional footballers.
Kieran Nokes, UEFA representative, Head of the Expert Council:
Football for Friendship provides a wonderful space for discussing important problems in football around the world. Each academy shares its experience, which allows participants to adopt knowledge and effective mechanics from each other and implement them in their country. This is incredibly valuable because there are never too many good ideas. I really hope that the participants will continue to develop their programs and we will hear more and loud about their success!
About the 2021 International Football for Friendship Award:
Within the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship, a unique International Football for Friendship Award was established with the aim of identifying all possible ideas for sports training, training young football players, cooperation in the field of children’s football, and promoting these ideas globally.
Goals of the International Football for Friendship Award:
- Attracting attention to the problems of children’s football development.
- Identifying specific ideas and products aimed at promoting the development of children’s football and social initiatives in this area.
- Forming a community of people interested in developing children’s football and promoting social initiatives in this area.
