Features
The Beautiful Game supported by PUMA.Peace
Peace One Day's One Day One Goal campaign, supported by PUMA.Peace, uses the Power of the Beautiful Game to Spread the Message of Peace Day
The Genesis of an Idea
In early 2000, Jeremy
Gilley, filmmaker and founder of Peace One Day, was standing on the
sidelines of a football (soccer) match in Somalia. Next to him, stood a
boy - no older than nine - who was holding a machine gun. Jeremy was
struck by the simple fact that football was the only thing in this
war-torn country that could overturn conflict and bring people
together.
While travelling in the Middle East, a few months later, Jeremy heard further tales of two opposing sides coming together in peace on the football pitch. "I realised then that football was the perfect game to play on Peace Day, in a gesture reminiscent of the Christmas Truce, during World War I, when soldiers from both the German and English sides came out of their trenches to play a game of football."
‘One Day One Goal' is Born
Jeremy approached
Jochen Zeitz, the Chairman and CEO of PUMA, who loved the idea and
agreed to come on board. Peace One Day's One Day One Goal initiative,
supported by puma.peace, was quickly launched, with a simple aim: to
encourage football matches all over the world on 21 September, Peace
Day.
Previous Peace Days have seen games played between people from all different age groups, cultures, communities and belief-systems all over the world, uniting people who would normally not play together. In Iraq, the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga put down their guns and played in the name of peace. And a team from Tijuana, Mexico, crossed the border to play with a team of schoolchildren in Chula Vista, California.
All told, there were over 400 One Day One Goal matches played in 180
countries, on Peace Day 2008, and an estimated 30,000 players took part
in the celebration.
The Goal for Peace Day 2009: 192 Countries
Peace One Day's aim for Peace Day 2009 is to have matches in all 192 member states of the United Nations. And to help us reach this goal, PUMA has agreed to give away a puma.peace has agreed to give away a puma.peace One Day One Goal fair trade football and two commemorative T-shirts using cotton made in Africa to the first 2009 One Day One Goal match that is logged from each country.
There are already commitments for matches in 181 countries. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Will hold the finals of a football tournament on 21 September to bring people together from opposite sides of Mostar - one of the cities on the frontline of fighting during the war
- Democratic Republic of Congo: Members of the office of the Provincial Parliament, the Governor, and Provincial Ministers - together with the support of the United Nations' Organisation Mission in Congo - are organising two days of activities, culminating with a special One Day One Goal match in Stadium Lumumba. The winner of the match will be presented with the Peace Day Cup.
- Mexico: The presidents of Xoloitzcuintles Football Club, a professional squad in Tijuna, and the Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, in San Diego, California, are organising a special Peace Day match in Xoloitzcuintles' stadium
- Peru: The shanty town of Pachacutec, near Lima, is using football as a tool to help change the pattern of violence; One Day One Goal matches will be played by youth who are at-risk or have already joined street gangs in the area
- Zimbabwe: One Day One Goal tournaments will be held for youths throughout the nine districts in the Mashonland Province
Peace One Day and puma.peace are still hoping to coordinate matches for the remaining 11 UN member states (Austria; Iran; Kiribati; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Myanmar; Nauru; New Zealand; Singapore; Timor-Leste / East Timor; Vanuatu).
So visit the One Day One Goal website, log in, and make your
commitment to organize a match.
(www.peaceoneday.org/en/take-action/football)
Your match can be
played anywhere: a major stadium; a local pitch; in a park; in the
street; your garden at home; or, maybe even the beach. All you need to
participate is a ball and an open patch of land.
And encourage others to join in by asking your friends, family, colleagues or classmates. If people don't want to play, they can be involved in other ways - every match needs supporters, a referee, and refreshments.
Celebrate cooperation, unity, and the power of football - ‘the beautiful game' - to bring people together on Peace Day!
For additional information, please email the One Day One Goal team at: web@peaceoneday.org