FOOTBALL FOR ALL

Football is and has always been a vivid sports activity in our society. It has the potential to foster inclusion in physical exercise between young
people coming from different cultures and backgrounds through this ancient but at the same time still contemporary sport. For three years “United
Societies of Balkans” has been organizing football events, which are open for anybody to join, to support this idea. This initiative responded to the
continuing need of enhancing inclusion processes of arriving refugees but also past arrivals to include them into society. Step by step we
developed our own methodology to make the events as inclusive as possible through creating a space of human encounter, that is low-threshold
for all people and emphasizes joint enjoyment of playing football together. Now we want to take this idea to the next level through the project
“Football for All”.
The project aims to spread the good practice that has been developed within the last three years, to an international level. Six partner
organizations will work together sharing their expertise, based on the original project concept from USB, as a method on how to use sports for
education and social inclusion in daily work with marginalized young people while tackling racism and discrimination. In 18 months, partner
organizations will be committed to providing each month free football activities engaging and empowering local young people with any social and
cultural background focussing on including marginalized youngsters such as refugees, immigrants, Roma, or NEETs. The project will involve the
collaboration and the strengthening of local and international networks between organizations, which are NGOs, sport, and other organisations.
Moreover, the project aims to create a network among local and international actors to provide a service to the community and promote social
inclusion, solidarity, healthy lifestyle and physical activity at the local and international level.