Four represent Seychelles at ‘Football for Friendship’ programme in Moscow |09 June 2018

A delegation of four is representing Seychelles at the ‘Football for Friendship’ programme in Moscow, Russia from June 5-16.

The delegation consists of Eddy Naiken (young coach and group leader), Stephane Ladouce (young player under-12 years old), Hope Nourrice (young journalist under-12 years old) and Lucie Bristol (parent of young female participant) who left the country on Thursday night.

The Seychelles delegation will join some 1,500 participants from over 200 countries worldwide for a three-day workshop, followed by a two-day tournament, one-day forum and finally attend the opening ceremony and first match of the Fifa World Cup on June 14 between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

‘Football for Friendship’ is an international children’s social programme initiated by the company Gazprom in 2013 within the Gazprom for Children global project. It includes a number of sports and educational events held in different countries around the globe.

World football legend Franz Beckenbauer is the global ambassador of the programme.

The ‘Football for Friendship’ programme’s mission is: developing children’s football; promoting youth sports and a healthy lifestyle; fostering tolerance and respect toward other cultures and ethnicities; and promoting friendship among children from different countries.

In order to achieve these goals, Gazprom organises a number of national and international initiatives involving children: International Children’s Forum; International Street Football Tournament; International Day of Football and Friendship; International Children’s Press Centre; and Nine Values Cup awarding ceremony.

The main event of the programme is the International Children’s Forum, to which Gazprom annually invites hundreds of young players from top African, Asian, European and South American football clubs.

Children taking part in the forum not only meet and communicate with their peers from other countries, as well as famous football players and public figures, but also become young ambassadors to promote universal values by themselves among their age-mates.

Children are provided with accommodation, meals, transportation services, attending personnel (including security officers) and round-the-clock medical care for the duration of the Forum.

‘Football for Friendship’ is supported by such renowned footballers as Vitor Baia, Didier Drogba, Anatoly Tymoshchuk, Luis Neto, and Ralf Faehrmann, as well as football associations and federations in many countries, including Fifa and UEFA.