Football: A universal language

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Lithuania
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €50,000
Foundation funding €37,000
Project identifier 20220179
Partners Vilnius social club
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Lithuanian society has faced various challenges over the last few years:

  • Deterioration in the population’s psychological health following the pandemic;
  • Large number of refugees arriving from Africa and the Middle east in 2021 after the border with Belarus opened;
  • Tensions with Russian community and migration from Ukraine as a result of the war in Ukraine;
  • Economic hardship, inflation and increased poverty.

In Lithuania, football is not accessible to vulnerable children and young adults because of the high fees and too much focus on results.

Project goals

Vilnius Social Club has run the football programme since 2013. The main goal is not sporting results, but a qualitative change in the life of each participant:

  • To help develop children and young people to develop skills and qualities that will help them to overcome various life challenges, such as independence, communication skills and the ability to work as a team, take responsibility, solve conflicts, find compromises and come to agreement.
  • To improve the participants’ social and sporting skills, thereby expanding the options available to teenagers in the future.

Principles of the project:

  1. Football is just a tool: we want participants in the football programme to grow as individuals, and we aim to create a space in which children and young people can take part in regular and long-term activities at their own pace. Playing football helps them to learn to be on time and stay until the end, to work as a team, to manage their emotions, to deal constructively with stressful and challenging situations, to win and lose, to interact with peers and adults, and to reflect on their experiences.
  1. Equal opportunities for all: we encourage diversity among the children who attend our football sessions, who include girls and boys, quieter and louder children, those of different nationalities, and weaker and stronger individuals.
  1. Empowering performance: we constantly reflect on our work and try to be clear about the limits of our responsibilities. Instead of playing the role of saviour, we choose to collaborate with our partners, provide them with feedback and work together to make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.

Project content

Participants of the football activities are divided into different age groups, with each having a two-hour session once a week. The sessions are structured as follows:

  1. Informal activities (free play): 20 minutes
  2. Opening circle: 10 minutes
  3. Football exercises: 30 minutes
  4. Football match: 30 minutes
  5. Discussion (circle): 30 minutes

Around 120 people aged from 7 to 20, with different experiences and facing different challenges, participate in the football programme each year. They all find a space where they are accepted regardless of their behaviour, financial situation or physical ability.

Additional activities include collaborating with families, one-to-one communication, work with individuals, activities during school holidays, and a summer camp.

Partner

Life’s A Ball

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location South Africa
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €48,550
Foundation funding €48,550
Project identifier 20220332
Partners Altus Sport
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

In parts of Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg, children live in poor socio-economic conditions with inadequate educational opportunities due to a lack of teachers, resources and classroom space. With no access to online learning, these children missed out on nearly two years of schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical education is practically absent from the school system. Sports facilities are non-existent or run-down and there are few physical education teachers and coaches.

Girls find it difficult to stand up for their rights and myths about health and reproduction hold them back from reaching their full potential. The unemployment rate is very high. Many young people lack the self-confidence and skills to find employment, and positive role models are scarce.

Project goals

  • Empower unemployed young people by educating them in personal development and leadership, basic employability skills, and fitness and sports
  • Promote physical and mental activity by introducing children to various sports and brain-fitness activities
  • Increase positive behaviour and reduce violence, physical abuse, crime and substance abuse
  • Instil positive values and good citizenship through Olympism and Olympic education
  • Motivate people with disabilities to be active
  • Support educational skills such as reading and writing
  • Empower girls by educating them about hygiene and reproductive health, leadership and basic financial management
  • Promote entrepreneurship through vegetable gardens that will teach children responsibility, financial management and leadership

Project content

The goal of the project is to utilise sport to empower children to make positive changes to their lives. The project involves training young people to run sports and life skills sessions for children. At these sessions, the children will play football, cricket, touch rugby, netball and hockey and learn about positivity, resilience, hygiene, puberty and menstruation, avoiding pregnancy, healthy relationships, bullying and peer pressure, gender-based violence and financial management.

Partners

Visiting sick children in hospitals

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Hungary
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 07/31/2024
Cost of the project €134,000
Foundation funding €20,000
Project identifier 20220462
Partners Amigos for Children Foundation
Categories Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Children may face a range of problems when they are admitted to hospital for long periods of time. They may fail to keep up with their studies and lose most of their social interactions. Frustration and a lack of motivation can adversely affect a child's fight against chronic illness.

Project goals

The Amigos for Children Foundation is working on a variety of approaches to introduce sports themes to the project’s hospital visits. With the assistance of the UEFA Foundation for Children we will add sports-related knowledge to the sessions, producing sports-themed exercise booklets. All volunteers are university students and recruitment will start in March 2023.

Project content

The project involves university student volunteers who visit long-term child patients at least twice a week to help them with their studies, assist with arts and crafts and improve social contact. The focus is on learning through play to the enjoyment of patients and volunteers alike.

The project will continue hospital visits to build on its eight successful years of experience. In 2022 the project welcomed a volunteer who had previously experienced the benefits of the programme as a patient. Bringing friendship, play and study to children's hospital bedsides, regardless of the patient’s gender, age or ethnicity, also has positive effects on recovery times.

Partners

Football Friends – Together is OK!

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina
Start date 03/01/2023
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €58,000
Foundation funding €43,720
Project identifier 20220196
Partners Football Friends
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of Europe's poorest countries that is still facing unresolved post-conflict tensions and the negative consequences of the ruthless war of the 1990s that affect young people and ethnic groups in Bosnia.

Project goals

  • Prevent conflict and promote long-lasting peace
  • Improve relationships between different national groups
  • Challenge stereotypes and social roles
  • Promote more active female participation in all football-related activities

Project content

The Football Friends – Together is OK! 2.0.23 project will extend the age range from players aged up to 14 to those aged up to 18. It will also incorporate the towns of Čajniče and Ustikolina from the same region as the existing project towns of Foča and Goražde.

The project will continue to adopt a football3 approach with teams of mixed genders and ethnicities from the four municipalities. Teams will be assembled using the Viber messaging app.

Partners

Genesis Football for Peace Community League

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €417,825
Foundation funding €80,000
Project identifier 20220524
Partners Genesis Project
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

This project contributes to overcoming ethnic segregation among ten ethnically divided communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country is characterised by its divided schools, symbolised in particular by the phenomenon of two schools, segregated by ethnicity, under one roof. This unique form of apartheid emerges from distrust and fear fuelled by irresponsible nationalist politicians.

Project goals

This project aims to empower young people to act as role models and young leaders in their communities. It will contribute to reducing the risk of recurring conflict and violence by promoting peaceful coexistence, trust, respect for diversity and cross-cultural dialogue amongst project beneficiaries. They will learn how to:

  1. Make decisions based on the cross-cultural context
  2. Use conflict mediation skills
  3. Compromise and find solutions
  4. Respect gender equality
  5. Enjoy healthy competition on the pitch

Project content

 

We work in ethnically divided communities and primary schools to promote gender equality, personal development and communication among young people from different ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Football has the power to unite youth from different ethnic groups and is a common language understood by all children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and here it will be used as a peacebuilding and youth empowerment tool.

Project activities:

  1. Sign MoUs with primary schools in ten communities
  2. Donate sports equipment to primary schools
  3. Transfer knowledge among peers using the football3 methodology
  4. Form football3 teams
  5. Establish the Genesis Football for Peace Community League (GFPCL)
  6. Organise football3 matches within the GFPCL
  7. Organise GFPCL camps within various communities

Partners

Pelota de trapo – Rag ball

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Uruguay
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €20,000
Foundation funding €10,000
Project identifier 20220820
Partners Gurises Unidos
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Uruguay has an overall population of 3,485,152. Children are the most affected by situations of poverty and violence: in 2020, 20% of children (a total of 176,375) were living below the poverty line. Moreover, reports showed an increase of 42% in violence against children in 2021. Most violent situations are chronic and 9 out of 10 of the aggressors are close family members of the victims.

Project goals

- Provide a cohort of children with the tools to strengthen their inter- and intrapersonal skills, their emotional intelligence and their family’s ability to care for them

- Create safe and inclusive sports activities

- Promote the meaningful participation of children in their communities, their positive and sustained integration into formal educational and their right to health through self-care

Project content

This project provides sports areas where social skills are developed in favour of gender equity, teamwork and peaceful conflict resolution, as well as themed workshops and individual interviews with a view to making life plans. In addition, the project monitors families and promotes access to resources and social policies that respect children’s rights. It also organises open community awareness activities where children become key members of the community.

Partners

Aktive Jen Yo – Activating Youth

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Haiti
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €340,000
Foundation funding €48,000
Project identifier 20220147
Partners GOALS Haiti (Global Outreach And Love of Soccer)
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

In rural Haiti, families live on the edge, trying to survive in the face of extreme poverty. GOALS focuses on rural areas where no other non-profit, private or government services are available. Unemployment rates are as high as 80% and parents cannot afford to send their children to school. Disease is an ever-present risk and gender bias is high. In terms of health and education, Haiti is one of the most difficult places in the world to grow up.

Project goals

GOALS was created to use the power of sport to engage youth with education and leadership opportunities. The Aktive Jen Yo project embraces football, education and community service. We focus on teaching life skills such as literacy, healthy living and conflict resolution. The holistic approach aims to create long-lasting change. An astounding 98% of participants had no access to sport before GOALS. Our programmes provide vital support for the development of Haiti’s youth in a safe, empowering space.

The objectives of our programme are to improve the physical and mental health of individuals within healthier, more stable rural communities where every child can realise their potential. Our projects engage citizens who learn in a dynamic, culturally appropriate way. Sport is a foundation of education and young people acquire life skills (communication, problem solving, leadership, inclusion, self-confidence) in a safe environment that allows them to truly flourish.

Project content

  • Football – daily practice using purposeful play games, friendly matches and rural outreach to teach inclusion, conflict resolution and gender equality
  • Health education – disease prevention, sex education, gender-based violence training, good hygiene
  • Climate action – tree planting, recycling and community gardens
  • Leadership training – youth leaders identify community issues and solutions
  • Education – literacy programme and high school scholarships
  • Community service – volunteering for projects
  • 350 young people receive daily meals and take part in football/purposeful play activities
  • 350 young people receive hygiene training and disease prevention education (AIDS, cholera, COVID-19)

Partner

Canchas Diversas – Fields of Diversity

Location and general information

Closed
Location Costa Rica
Start date 03/01/2023
End date 05/01/2025
Cost of the project €143,017,97
Foundation funding €108,959,21
Project identifier 20220629
Partners Fundación GOLEES
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

After more than three years of working with women and girls in informal settlements and indigenous territories in Costa Rica, we recognised the potential of using football as a tool for social transformation and specifically to address sexual diversity. Homosexuality should not be taboo in women’s football. Football represents freedom, and no matter who you love, you can be yourself.

Project goals

General:

- Promote the acceptance of sexual diversity in girls through the practice of football.

Specific:

- Generate sports areas and psychosocial spaces that offer a free, safe environment for dialogue on various sexual/affective experiences and encourage solutions to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

- Prevent violence and harassment directed at sexual-affective relationships between girls who play football.

- Redefine the relationship between women’s football and sexual orientation.

Project content

Through football, we will develop and implement a methodology to use sports and psychosocial spaces to encourage a greater tolerance of sexual diversity. Whether in secondary school, receiving assistance from NGOs or playing for teams in at-risk areas, and irrespective of sexual orientation, girls and young women will be agents of change to foster greater inclusion on football pitches and in the lives of lesbian, bisexual and unconventional girls and teenagers.

Partners

Teaching life skills and personal development through football

Location and general information

Closed
Location Indonesia
Start date 12/20/2022
End date 12/19/2023
Cost of the project €30,000
Foundation funding €20,000
Project identifier 20220009
Partners ASA Foundation (Yayasan ASA Asia)
Categories Access to Sport - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Garut has high levels of poverty, with poor levels of education, health and development, and discrimination against women and girls.

Furthermore, Indonesia is now one of the world’s largest plastic waste producers, creating over 3.2 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. A lack of public awareness of waste management, together with a lack of investment, means that there is no easy solution to Indonesia’s waste problems. There is an urgent need for locally-owned and community-driven solutions, such as an accessible and cost-effective waste management infrastructure.

Project goals

To train, educate, empower and build the capacity of 30 local male and female school teachers and over 5,000 vulnerable male and female students, with 50% female participation, on the topics of the circular economy, health, life skills and gender equality in order to improve the level of education, create positive social change and guarantee cleaner, greener Garut communities.

Project content

I. Programme planning, design and socialisation

Through its DINAS, DISPORA and PSSI stakeholder group partnerships, the ASA Foundation conducts project socialisation, planning and design workshops comprising baseline studies and needs assessments. During this phase, our stakeholders recommend potential target schools together with adult teachers to implement the virtual programme. The teachers’ CVs are submitted to the ASA Foundation.

II. Design and development of the training platform

A collaborative empowerment approach involves all our stakeholders, which are invited to include their own education modules in our curriculum design process. The curriculum, in both local Bahasa Indonesian and English languages, is scheduled to be rolled out during the Training of Trainer (ToT) workshop. The training modules are to be updated throughout the program through continuous feedback from all stakeholders.

III. Implementation of the ToT programme, UEFA Foundation for Children ‘Field in a Box’ football pitch, Garut City, West Java, Indonesia

The ToT workshop will be run by local ASA Foundation master trainers to build the capacity of 30 male and female school teachers so that they can deliver the football-based education training modules. The teachers are trained and empowered through the coaching development methodology that covers the following topics:

  1. The circular economy and waste management development, including recycling plastic materials to produce sports training equipment
  2. Life skills development including creative thinking, character building, and gender equality
  3. Health and well-being education including virus prevention measures by focusing on hygiene and sanitation information during the current pandemic

The ToT workshop is to be held at the UEFA Foundation for Children Field in a Box pitch in Garut City.

IIII. Running the youth development training activities in schools

On completion of the ToT workshop, the 30 adult teachers are expected to lead weekly grass-roots youth development coaching activities for their respective male and female student groups, either in school as extra-curricular activities or in their communities. The activities are geared towards long-term sustainability.

Partners

Building Children’s Resilience through Sports

Location and general information

Closed
Location China
Start date 03/01/2023
End date 03/31/2024
Cost of the project €110,000
Foundation funding €110,000
Project identifier 20220454
Partners Plan International Hong Kong
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

COVID-19 had a huge negative impact on mental and physical health, especially among children. While we believe that doing sport is an important way to tackle this issue, some schools in the less developed areas of China may not be able to afford decent sports equipment or offer their students training. Moreover, gender stereotypes make it difficult for boys and girls to play sports freely. This not only hinders the recovery process in the post-COVID era but also fosters gender inequality in schools.

Project goals

The main objectives of this project:

- Enhance junior and secondary school students’ engagement in sport

- Challenge gender stereotypes in sport and introduce transformative changes among girls, boys, their families, schools and communities

- Enhance friendships and cohesion in the schools targeted by the project

Project content

To achieve the objectives, the following activities are planned in ten project schools:

  • Procure high-quality sports equipment and renovate play areas
  • Establish sports clubs in schools to promote participation
  • Establish girls’ football teams in schools
  • Offer physical education teachers training on gender-responsive coaching
  • Provide teachers and parents with training on gender awareness
  • Organise football and sports tournaments among the project schools

Partners

Busajo Campus: promoting education and well-being through sport

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ethiopia
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 02/28/2024
Cost of the project €90,360
Foundation funding €40,000
Project identifier 20220532
Partners Busajo NGO Ets
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

The project is based in Sodo, a rapidly expanding city in the region of Wolaita, Ethiopia. The pace of development is generating many social problems as an increasing number of people, including many minors, migrate to the city in the hope of improving their lives and escaping the deep poverty of the countryside.

Many people moving to the city are forced to resort to marginal employment and live on the streets. Young people and children soon become targets of the criminal underworld. The situation can also be catastrophic for those who remain in rural areas as they face deprivation and poverty, often struggling to survive. There are an estimated 3,000 street children in Sodo. Many families do not have the economic capacity to meet basic needs or send their children to school.

Project goals

  • Combat slavery, crime and child prostitution
  • Improve school attendance rates
  • Enhance the physical, psychological and social conditions of the beneficiaries
  • Improve interpersonal, relationship and soft skills
  • Effectively treat rickets
  • Improve socialisation and teach tolerance and respect through sport
  • Promote inclusion and equal opportunities for girls and boys as well as between the children on campus and those living externally

Project content

Busajo Campus is a social and educational project for street children living in the city of Sodo and the surrounding rural areas. It supports rehabilitation, crime prevention and family reintegration. The project beneficiaries regain their dignity and build hopes for the future.

Thousands of children live in extreme poverty – many more than we can accommodate on our campus. For this reason, the project focuses on support for health, education and sport, for those on campus and in the vicinity.

A new off-road vehicle is required to reach remote villages.

Partner

Creating life Champions

Location and general information

Closed
Location Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Croatia
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 11/30/2023
Cost of the project €317,800,00
Foundation funding €150,000,00
Project identifier 20220331
Partners Development Center for Youth
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Commercialisation of sport has led to a reduction in its educational role. Instead of using sport to educate and promote healthy lifestyles and positive social values, the focus is on top performance. There is also an increase in negative phenomena in and around sport, directly linked to the widespread crisis of social and moral values.

Not all young sportsmen/sportswomen will become top athletes, but they should all strive to be top people. Children go to school because they have to and do sports because they want to, which illustrates the relevance of sport during childhood.

Project goals

The aim is to revitalise the educational role of football, utilising the coaches’ influence and contributing to the youngsters’ upbringing. The training module teaches coaches how to introduce other topics of relevance to everyday life in their sessions, to help the youngsters become open-minded, free-thinking and active citizens, i.e. use football to turn them into life champions.

In the first stage, its specific objectives will be as follows:

-  Set the framework for proper usage of non-formal educationthrough sport: develop a curriculum with three areas of intervention – for coaches, youngsters and parents; capacity building

- Test the model of educational work in sport directly on 2,000 children, to make it a replicable tool for other age categories/countries/disciplines

- Present the Life Champions concept to more than 2,000,000 people through an extensive Creating Life Champions campaign

Project content

The project will comprise a number of activities with different formats, starting from developing educational modules for three main target groups (youngsters, coaches and parents). It will include six regional info days in the countries involved, to present the concept and approach and invite the coaches and youngsters to apply for the summer camps.

Thirty coaches from all over the region will be selected for training. Preference is given to the coaches who use the knowledge and skills they have gained at summer camps run by famous players Dejan Stankovic (DEKI5) and Goran Pandev (Pandev Academy) or in their regular coaching activities. The focus is on those from disadvantaged groups.

An extensive media campaign will be run to reach at least 2 million people, underlining the Life Champions messages, with famous athletes as its main ambassadors.

The project will end with a major international conference to present the main results and the advantages of this new working model in sports, to promote the utilisation of sport in educating new generations.

Partners

Junior Camp

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Poland
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €105,000
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20220904
Partners European Amputee Football Federation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

The benefits of participating in sport for children are universal. In many countries, disabled children have limited access to sport even though it is their basic human right. Providing children with the opportunity to participate in a range of physical activities improves their well-being, enables them to socialise with their peers, develops social skills and enhances mental and physical health. It is important to reduce the inequalities that disabled children face as much as possible.

Project goals

- Offer equal access to sport

- Increase skill levels

- Disseminate the concept of junior amputee football

- Provide cultural exchanges for children, parents and coaches

- Develop new junior projects in the participating countries

- Increase participation in physical activities

- Increase the number of girls involved in sport

Project content

Junior Camp is a training camp for children, aged 5–16, with unilateral amputations or limb defects. Participants from all over Europe and further afield attend Junior Camp and are afforded the opportunity to play football, speak the universal language of sport and develop new skills. It is also a chance for coaches to exchange knowledge and consider developing subsequent programmes. In addition, the camp gives parents the opportunity to strengthen their bonds with their children.

Partner

The Neighbourhood League

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Jerusalem, Israel
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €427,900
Foundation funding €120,000
Project identifier 20220404
Partners Katamon Moadon Ohadim
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Hapoel Jerusalem projects take place in the Greater Jerusalem area. Jerusalem is a highly sensitive, complex arena in terms of the political, ethnic, religious and geographical contexts. It is an almost impossible mosaic of communities and faiths, attracting people from all over the world. Jerusalem suffers from severe violence, animosity and friction with hardly any positive contact between the various communities. Jerusalem is the poorest city in Israel and as a result, Hapoel Jerusalem places a great deal of emphasis on including all children from all backgrounds and on creating equal opportunities for all.

Project goals

- Bringing together children from different religions, nationalities and backgrounds, in order to break down barriers and remove stigmas

- Using football to promote values such as tolerance, anti-violence and anti-racism

- Giving children from underprivileged backgrounds a better education and high-quality sports activities

- Promoting women’s football in Jerusalem

Project content

- Enrol 550 Jewish and Arabic boys and girls in after-school learning centres

- 24 mixed and cross-cultural activities throughout the year for Neighbourhood League participants

- Include at least 10% of participants’ parents in activities

- At least 300 children complete 16 hours of conflict resolution workshops and tournaments

- The participants’ families, schools and communities will also be involved in this unique enterprise for social change, with the aim of humanising the other communities and learning that, just like them, people on the other side of the social divide are seeking peaceful lives for themselves and their families.

Partners

Football versus Discrimination

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ireland
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €108,000,00
Foundation funding €54,000,00
Project identifier 20221197
Partners Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Ireland has been under international scrutiny as a country that is failing to meet its international human rights obligations to tackle racism and discrimination. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Council of Europe and the Irish Network Against Racism have all highlighted Ireland’s shortcomings: the country has an above-average number of incidents of discrimination and racist violence.

Project goals

  • Increase mutual understanding between children and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds
  • Help combat racism and xenophobia
  • Promote the integration of immigrants into Irish schools and society
  • Promote gender equality in sport and society
  • Introduce children to the concept of human rights

Project content

Football versus Discrimination is a 75-minute interactive workshop using football as a tool to address issues of discrimination such as racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia.

  • Children learn about forms of discrimination by playing football.
  • Role-playing games are used to identify and experience how it feels to discriminate and to be discriminated against.
  • Games of fair play football (football3) are played in which participants take responsibility for their own actions. There are no referees and players are encouraged to set their own rules and resolve disagreements through dialogue.
  • In the days following the workshop, participants complete an in-class questionnaire reflecting on what they have learned.

Partner

League of Fair-Play Football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Prague, Usti nad Labem, Pilsen, Olomouc, Karlovy Vary, Brno, Liberec - Czechia
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €236,164
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20220231
Partners INEX association for voluntary activities
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Recent reports have shown that there are significant inequalities in access to a decent education in Czechia. These inequalities only grew during the COVID-19 pandemic as the result of extended school closures and a lack of support and access to online technologies at home, e.g. parental illiteracy, lack of access to computers and a reliable internet connection. The region of Czechia where a child is born plays a major role in their future success. In regions with a high poverty rate, children are less likely to receive a good education and enrol on after-school programmes. They often have to deal with youth and parental violence, petty crime, addiction, poor health, mental stress, discrimination and financial pressure. Our project targets children in these regions with an approach that combines the health benefits of football with educational added value.

Project goals

  1. Increase free, meaningful, healthy access to sports activities and facilities for children who can’t afford it
  2. Increase social cohesion among young people who face social isolation
  3. Improve the sense of achievement and success among children who are discriminated against and who are accustomed to experiencing failure
  4. Address deficiencies in the quality of education of children living in disadvantaged regions of Czechia
  5. Provide vulnerable children with a meaningful after-school programme focused on their development

Project content

This project introduces the League of Fair-Play Football (LFF) to various regions of Czechia. The league offers a platform for positive socialisation through a year of activities for children who lack access to quality education and sports activities. LFF uses football to attract, motivate, empower and develop young people who are exposed to social failure due to their economic status, family situation, social environment or ethnic background. LFF provides children with an opportunity for constructive emancipation in an inclusive, safe, mentored environment, free of any charge.

Partners