02.08.2005
Former University of Brighton student, Adrian Hasner, has been celebrating his team's victory of the coveted Football 4 Peace trophy in Galilee, Israel.
Every summer, the Football 4 Peace camp hosts over 200 coaches (50 from
Europe) and 1,000 children (aged 10-14) from 18 Arab and Jewish communities
in the Galilee. The finals took place at the end of July in the state-of-the-art
stadium in Umm al-Fahm, the teams are mixed and each one has a European,
an Arab and a Jewish coach. Adrian's team won the final 1
- 0.
The sport science student from Cologne said "Three years ago, when I was studying in a student exchange program at the University of Brighton, my friend on the soccer team said there was a project in Israel that was connected to children and peace, so I decided to volunteer."
This unique project is overseen by Dr. John Sugden, professor of sociology of sport from the University of Brighton. "My previous work with Protestant and Catholic children in Belfast helped me to develop the Israel project," says Sugden, most of whose research up until five years ago focused on exposing corruption in FIFA, the international football federation.
"I'm really not naive, because I've seen the negative things football can do," says Sugden. "It's a game that evokes strong feelings of identity that in some people can spark racism, nationalism and violence. And yet, I think it's worth using football specifically, because even societies mired in conflict love the sport.
"The objective of the camp is for the kids to make new friends, experience new things and pass on their impressions to their families and friends."
The Jewish and Arab children divide up into teams; on the pitch it's impossible to tell who is the child from Misgav and who is from Kfar Kara, who is from Tiberias and who is from Shfaram.
This project has increasingly involved cooperation between the University of Brighton, the British Council and the British Embassy in Israel, which are key partners in organisation and fund raising. F4P's aims and objectives resonate with recent efforts made by the English Football Association to help their Israeli counterparts to develop strategies for combating racism and sectarianism in Israeli football which is why they are supporting the project.
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton,
01273 643022
