Features
Spot the Ball: ODOG Antarctica football match
21 September ,2009, a game of four aside football is played in the name of peace. On paper, there is nothing unique about it. A group of scientists, made up of six men and two women of varying ages split into two teams - one red, one black. They battle it out to win. But this game is tougher than most because this game is played in the Antarctic in freezing conditions. The teams are in snow suits. The ground is slippery to say the least and the only football they have is white. Even sending a photograph of the great game is hard - sometimes the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey go weeks without email access.
It is games like this that sum up the impact of our One Day One Goal campaign, which, in the two years since it was launched with the kind sponsorship of Puma, has reached every far-flung corner of the globe. For this group of scientists, it was a fitting way of marking the 50th Anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty which designates Antarctica as a Continent of peace and science.
What better way to spread a message of peace than with a game which speaks a universal language? This year, POD's aim for Peace Day 2009 was to see matches played in all 192 member states of the United Nations; a mission successfully accomplished. North, South, East and West, 75,000 participants - of every age, sex, race, faith, colour and creed - put aside their differences on the pitch. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a game was played between teams from opposite sides of Mostar (a city on the frontline of fighting during the War). In Djibouti, a match involving players from two communities, the Afars (from the North of the country) and the Issas (from the South) temporarily eliminated tensions that have historically existed between the two. In Kenya, a tournament was held to catalyse reconciliation between diverse youth groups living in Eldoret, a slum area where anti-social behaviour is rife.
For Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day, it is hearing about games like these that makes him feel like real progress is being made in the name of peace. ‘We all have the potential to utilize the ‘beautiful game' to do something really profound; to bring about resolution and reconciliation', he says. ‘Whether it's putting an end to a family feud or trying to build race relations, the ODOG campaign has the power to unite nations and people alike.'
With the 2010 World Cup drawing nearer, the onus in the year coming will fall particularly on Africa, but it will not stop there. On 21 September next year, we hope to see games played far and wide in the name of peace. We hope yours will be one of them.