Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship Eighth Season to unite over 10 000 participants from all over the world

Gazprom launches the Eighth Season of its International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship. This year, the final events will be held in a new digital format.

Football for Friendship is an annual international children’s social programme. The main participants of the programme are girls and boys aged 12, including children with disabilities. Young Players represent different cultures and countries united in mixed teams learning to play on the same team. Young Journalists cover the events of the programme in the International Children’s Press Center and promote universal values. Over the seven seasons, Football for Friendship has united over 6 000 participants from 211 countries and regions. Over 5 000 000 people have participated in the sports, educational, and ecological events of the programme across the globe.

In 2019, the participants of the programme have set a Guinness World Record for the Most nationalities in a football training session in history. In 2020, the new season will be fully held in an online format: the Football for Friendship Digital Platform will hold the Online F4F World Championship for the first time in history. The tournament will unite 32 Teams of Friendship consisting of 12-year-old cyberathletes from different countries, of different gender, physical abilities, and speaking different languages.

The Football for Friendship Digital Universe will unite over 10 000 players of all ages from 100 countries. This unique virtual space will become the base for international children’s cybersports competitions, as well as a gaming platform where anyone will be able to train, unite into mixed international teams, and play their favourite game in the Football for Friendship format without leaving the house.

Diogo Netto, Manager of Technical Development and Social Responsibility of the Brazilian national football team: “Football for Friendship has always been open for participants with different physical abilities. The Football for Friendship Digital Platform contributes to the key goal of the project – to unite people all over the world, allowing everyone to get out onto the football field and experience incredible emotions with new friends.”

Rene Rantuša Lampreht, Young Coach from Slovenia: “I’ve participated in the programme several times. It’s an amazing experience that helped me make friends from different countries. The news about the Eighth Season is great: even when we are apart, we will all be able to get together and play football safely.”