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Lay’s, the UEFA Foundation for Children and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) have joined together to install a new artificial football pitch in the Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to see how something as simple as a football pitch can bring so much joy and happiness. Football has the ability to inspire, unite and also teach children important life skills and values, such as teamwork and respect,” said the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, on the occasion of the official inauguration that took place on 12th September 2017.

 

UEFA foundation welcomes continued collaboration with FedEx and celebrates the inauguration of a second community pitch in Mragowo – Poland.

“The decision to build this football field in Mrągowo has already elevated the aspirations of people here. The pitch will be greatly beneficial in terms of community development, helping to integrate the people of Mrągowo with their neighbours and the municipality, and encouraging independence. Our aim for this pitch – to become a football3 training facility—means the pitch will not just benefit young people who use it, but also allow the teaching of football3 to spread beyond Mrągowo and have a broader impact in Poland,” said Arkadiusz Kamil Mierkowski, MSIS.

 

 

It has been a year since the UEFA Foundation for Children and FedEx, built the first ‘Field in a Box’ in the Cañada Real district of Madrid, one of Spain’s most economically disadvantaged areas. The pitch was donated to Red Deporte y Cooperación, a Madrid-based non-profit organisation.

Today, 400 children and young adults are involved in the project. 90% are boys and 10% girls aged 5 to 30 have benefitted directly from the pitch, and nearly 500 football matches have been organised there since the project began.

“The success of the pitch in Cañada Real is an excellent example of the impact football can have on a local community, and shows just how important it is to develop sustainable projects that continue to have an impact after their completion,” said Cyril Pellevat, head of administration at the UEFA Foundation for Children.

As part of the UEFA Youth League finals, the UEFA Foundation for Children worked with Camp Cinéma, a local organisation that gives young people the opportunity to discover the world of film production, to produce a short film showing the tournament as seen through the eyes of the young.

While Europe’s most talented young players were competing to lift the Lennart Johansson Trophy, the teenagers from Camp Cinéma had carte blanche to capture all the emotion and passion of the event. They started with the children participating in a parallel mini-tournament and then met and interviewed some of the two finalists’ players from Salzburg and Benfica.

Our young directors, who are all aged between 12 and 16, spent weeks preparing to produce this special innovative documentary about the UEFA Youth League – a football competition that marks an important point in a player’s transition from elite youth football to the professional game.
The concentrated nature of this two-day event was both a fantastic opportunity and a real challenge for our young film-makers, who were seeking to apply their knowledge of short fiction films to a documentary project while operating in a professional environment. They also had the opportunity to experience the world of professional sports journalism, conducting interviews with some of the young stars of the future.

The Camp Cinéma film crew received advice and support from the professional production team working at the tournament, as well as being given match footage from the official broadcast production for inclusion in their edit. They also had the chance to visit the OB van – the nerve centre of live broadcast operations.

We are proud to present the film produced by the children from Camp Cinéma, which shows the UEFA Youth League finals as seen through their eyes.

We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all our young directors and producers:
• Alicia Perrone
• Delia Simon
• Vivia Theraulaz
• Marius Müller
• Liam Macia Feferman

UEFA Foundation for children is presenting to the 41th ordinary UEFA Congress in Helsinki this video that report about the work that has been achieved since 2 years, and how football can give back to society and contribute to improve lives of kids in difficult situation.

In fact, a few years ago, on 26 March 2014, at the 38th Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana, Michel Platini stressed UEFA’s desire to enable more people to benefit from football’s role in society. Thanks to the support of the UEFA Executive Committee and the approval of UEFA’s member associations at that Congress that day, UEFA created an independent foundation that uses sport to support humanitarian projects linked to children’s rights in areas such as health, education and integration. UEFA Foundation for children was formally established and began operating the 24th of April 2015.

A presentation of the app “çATED for your teeth”, a tool that gives autonomy to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), especially regarding oral care; A crucial issue for families and professionals.

Presentation of Just Play Programme in the Pacific Islands. Just Play helps children in the Pacific to grow, learn and explore through football. With a ball, a coach and a safe place to play, the programme shows children aged 6 to 12 how to have fun with other children, be physically active and gain confidence in their abilities.
The exhibition was produced by UEFA Foundation for Children in partnership with the Oceania Football Confederation.

The UEFA Foundation for Children supported the solidarity tournament being organised by Sport dans la Ville as part of the streetfootballworld Festival 2016. The festival took place in the heart of Lyon from 28 June to 7 July 2016 and gathered 500 girls and boys from disadvantaged communities all over the world who have been chosen for their desire to help change the world through football. Educational and cultural workshops also feature prominently, enabling the young participants to develop new skill sets and apply them in their local communities.

The House of Sports, constructed inside the camp, will provide a single umbrella facility for all sports activities in Za’atari refugee camp. The venue was officially opened in the presence of representatives of the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UEFA Foundation for Children, and French former international footballer Christian Karembeu.

During the pre-match ceremony, the two team captains will be escorted onto the pitch by two disabled child refugees who have found sanctuary in Norway – one from Afghanistan and the other from Syria. A strong message of peace and solidarity to civilian victims of bombing around the world.

We believe football is for everyone.
Two young refugee children leaving in Norway made history at UEFA Super Cup Final 2016 as being the first ever player escorts in wheelchairs.

Bombing civilians is not a part of war. It’s a crime. We stand united behind Handicap International France, alongside the players of Sevilla FC and Real Madrid C.F. when we say: it must STOP

Ali and Ismael make football history by leading Real Madrid C.F. and Sevilla FC out on to the pitch at #SuperCup 2016. They’ll be the first children with disabilities ever to be player escorts as we show our support for the wonderful work of Handicap International.

The UEFA Foundation for Children is inviting 20,000 deprived children to attend a UEFA EURO 2016 match.

The children will be selected and looked after by host cities and associations that play a recognised role in assisting vulnerable children at national or local level.

This project will be organised for the group matches (excluding the opening match) and round of 16 matches, i.e. 43 matches in all, at an average of 450 children per match. The host cities will provide logistical support and other services to accompany the children.

THIS EXHIBITION PRESENTS THREE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDREN’S LIVES
AT THE ZA’ATARI CAMP.

Five children at the camp have had the opportunity to show, through their eyes, how life continues despite the particular context in which they are living. In partnership with a local NGO, these youngsters have benefited from training as photographers, and the UEFA foundation provided cameras to allow them to produce their own exhibition and promote it beyond the borders of the Za’atari camp. The aspiring photographers were very keen to take part in this project, and using professional cameras was a wonderful experience for them. They were supervised by Mahmoud Hamed Al Hariri, a football coach at the camp, who also took a few pictures.

Pascale Cholette, a French photographer who works for the digital agency Future Learning, felt the great contrast between her freedom and that of the refugees, who are held captive by fences. Describing herself as a captive of her European mindset and Western culture, she decided to use the lights of the desert to free the youngsters from the reality around them, and to simply focus on what they are – children.

Rawan Risheq, a Jordanian photographer, had a fascinating experience. She was granted access to mosques and homes, and visits to youth centres and playgrounds enabled her to understand how a refugee’s life is organised, and how the Syrians have adjusted after years in the camp. Many children were happy to be photographed, but some would barely smile – they seemed like grown adults in children’s bodies.

Rawan came across a great deal of talent, and so many powerful expressions that held stories of survival within them.