Guyana is participating in Gazprom’s international social children’s program – Football For Friendship (F4F) – which officially opened in Moscow, Russia, on June 9 with a colourful parade of the flags and nations at Spartak Football Academy.
The event, being held from June 8-15, will also see participants attending the opening ceremony and match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Guyana’s participation is in the form of two adults and two young footballers respectively – GFF’s National Female Junior Footballer-of-the-Year 2017 and National Under-17 female player, Jalade Trim; National Under-13 player Josiah King; Member Association Representative Gidel Austin and Communication and Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Debra Francis.
Head of Delegation Francis said the team arrived safely in Russia, has settled in well and is excited about this opportunity which will contribute to the development of the young footballers.
“This is an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the team and the GFF is especially happy that these talented national youth footballers have been given the chance to participate in this educational programme. The coordinators have requested the young participants serve in two primary roles – Footballer and Journalist – and both will be exposed to capacity building in their respective areas of focus for the duration of the programme. Thus, the technical skills will be complemented by the opportunity to practice and network with other talented footballers and coaches from around the world. It can only serve their football ambitions well.”
While King is scheduled to serve as the young journalist in the F4F International Children’s Press Centre, reporting on events as they happen, Trim will serve as the footballer and will be given a chance to play in the inaugural 2018 F4F World Championship on June 12 at the Sapsan Arena.
This will feature a five-a-side mixed team of nationals from the 211 participating countries and regions, including those with disabilities, in keeping with the values of the programme.
In addition to the International Friendship Camp at the Spartak Football Academy, which will seek to impart respective technical skills and expose the participants to the core values of the programme (School of 9 Values) – friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions and honour – there will be a Children’s Forum on June 13, which will seek to showcase the work of the identified young journalists in promoting the F4F programme on various national and international networks.
Trim was the flag bearer for Guyana at the opening ceremony which featured three mascots, Freddy and Freida – the official F4F mascots – and Zabivaka, the official mascot of the FIFA World Cup 2018.
Participants had photo opportunities and interacted with them. The opening ceremony was also complemented by brief remarks from tournament coordinators who encouraged to participants to play fair, practice the F4F’s nine values and have fun.
Meanwhile, King was among eight young participants featured in the first edition of the F4F Daily Newspaper For Real Friends sharing his expectations of the trip.
Gazprom is an official partner of FIFA and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and aims to develop youth football across the world through youth sport, healthy lifestyles and promotion of the nine named core values.
Gazprom is a global energy company specialising in gas exploration, production and sale and heat and electric power generation and marketing. It is Russia’s largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
