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Nepali kids shine at the Football for Friendship programme in Russia

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Nepali kids shine at the Football for Friendship programme in Russia
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June 22: The sixth season of Football for Friendship (F4F) Programme implemented by Gazprom, the official partner of FIFA and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, concluded successfully in Moscow.

 The programme, which took place from June 8-15, brought together young football players and young journalists aged 12 years from 211 countries and regions, the organiser said in a press statement. The young footballers, incluing those from Nepal, were a part of 32 international teams of friendship, and were accompanied by young journalists who were selected to report on the Football for Friendship events. Nepal joined the programme for the first time and was represented by Girish Maskey and Anmesh Rayamajhi, who were selected as the young footballer and young journalist respectively. 

 Girish played as a goalkeeper in the “African Elephant” team, along with his 12-year-old teammates from Puerto Rico, Andorra, Thailand, Sao Tome E Principe and Swaziland. Girish put on a stellar performance by making several critical saves in all the qualifying games, however, the team was just a few goals short of qualifying for the quarter- finals.

 Speaking about his experience in Russia, Girsh said, “I am happy to have been given the opportunity to represent my country in the Football for Friendship programme in Moscow. The programme has helped me to make a lot of friends from different countries, and discuss, practice and play football with them. I was also given the opportunity to participate in the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup which is an experience that I will never forget. This has been an amazing journey and I hope to keep in touch with all my new friends from around the world.”

 It was no different for Anmesh Rayamajhi who acted as the young journalist and covered all key events on equal terms with the adult reporters. The young ambassador from Kathmandu got a chance to learn from the well-known journalists representing the leading Russian sports media outlets, as a part of their workshops. 

The F4F program featured a three-day International Friendship Camp in Moscow, for the young ambassadors. The training camp was followed by the final championship that was held on June 12 at the Sapsan Arena Stadium. The Championship which consisted of multi-cultural teams acted as an effective tool in promoting mutual respect, understanding and support among all the participating kids.

 The programme ended with the International Children’s Forum during which children shared their experiences and held discussions with their peers, famous footballers and journalists. The forum was addressed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Olga Golodets, legendary Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Victor Zubkov among other renowned delegates.

 Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets presented a festive speech of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Football for Friendship Programme: “I strongly believe that such large-scale initiatives as Football for Friendship carry out an important mission. They support youth sports, promote values of a healthy lifestyle, teach children to respect representatives of different nationalities and cultures”.

Speaking at the Football for Friendship Forum, Iker Casillas, Spanish football player, Goalkeeper and Captain of Portu (Portugal) said, “I'm pleased to see so many happy faces from all over the world in the International Children's Forum Football for Friendship! I would like to express my gratitude for the invitation to this extraordinary event as the two fundamentals of the programme are the most important to my life: friendship and football. I hope that football will open for you the doors not only to sports, but to every sphere of your lives! Here in the Forum, there are 211 participants from the FIFA countries; there are many people from all over the world, and each of them adores football. Football is a great platform for social changes to make our world more open and tolerant. Enjoy this unique experience and save your energy for the World Cup that is to start very soon!”

 On June 14, Girsh got the unique opportunity to be a part of the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup as Nepal’s flag bearer. The young ambassadors also got to watch the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

 

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