Kids from 24 Countries in Europe and Asia are Celebrating International Day of Football and Friendship

MOSCOW, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ - Today the International Day of Football and Friendship is celebrated as part of the children's social FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP programme, implemented by Gazprom Company. All the participating countries have joined the celebration: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140708/696621 )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150427/740719 )

Within the International Day of Football and Friendship a lot of friendly football matches are organised to remind boys and girls of the key values the FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP programme is supporting and promoting, namely friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory and traditions.

All the events start with the exchange of Friendship bracelets, signifying tolerance, equality and a healthy lifestyle. The bracelet is made of two simple strings of green and blue colours where green symbolises the football field, available for everyone, and blue the peaceful sky above our heads. As ambassadors of the FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP movement children present bracelets not only to the players of other teams but also to the invited guests.

The International Day of Football and Friendship is traditionally supported by representatives of football organisations, famous sportsmen as well as major national and global media.

Besides friendly matches, this day features other types of events. Thus in Serbia young football players spoke about the Day of Football and Friendship during a TV-show hosted by the popular anchorman Ivan Ivanovic. In Germany Schalke04 football club stars hold open training for children. French city Taverny traditionally hosts a number of games and events with participation of media and representatives of local authorities. In Russia the Friendship relay is carried out, namely football matches featuring young players of famous football clubs and torchbearers of the Olympic Torch Relay 2014, accompanied by an online broadcast of a virtual baton pass to another city.

The FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP project is being operated globally by AGT Communications Group (Russia).

SOURCE The International Children's Social FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP project press center