Fair Play. Against Discrimination in Sports
Soccer Tournament under the Banner of Fair Play, Sports and Integration
June 19th, 2010 in the Augartenpark Graz
On June 19, 2010, at the occasion of the 7th Chiala Afriqas Festival Week, took place, under the banner of Fair Play, Sport and Integration, the first Grazer Park World cup in the Augarten park in Graz. Once more it became clear how much Austria wins through all these young people living here. The clear rules of the game provided the framework for a fair treatment of each other and made it possible to play together in colorful teams and to join for a common goal; that is to win the first Grazer Park World cup.
On June 19, 2010, at the occasion of the 7th Chiala-Afriqas Festival Week in Graz, took place in the same city of Graz, under the banner of Fair play, Sport and Integration, the first Grazer Park World Cup co-organized by the Austrian Commission for UNESCO within the framework of the Go4Diversity project, the Sport integrative project „SIQ! Sport–Integration–Qualifikation“of the Caritas Graz-Seckau and the Africa Center „Chiala-Afriqas“.
Over a hundred participating girls and boys from Austria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Kosovo and many other countries were mixed at a principle of random by the tournament organizers and each player was assigned to a national team participating in the World Cup in South Africa. The schedule at the start of the tournament for all was posted on several information boards.
The honor to carry out the kick-off at 10 AM fell to Mme Gabriele Eschig, the General Secretary of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO, Mme Edith Pfeiffer, the General Secretary of the Caritas in Styria, Member of Parliament and the Greens’ leading candidate for the Styrian federal parliamentary election. Then, a teenager read out a message of the UNESCO and FC Barcelona advising to work together in order to fight against racism and discrimination in sport.
For the whole morning the young adults were offered the opportunity to strengthen themselves with a "Permanent Breakfast". They ate while chatting and discussing about personal views on Europe. In addition, a moderator and a DJ ensured a good atmosphere all day long. Vuvuzelas, T-shirts with the logo of kick in the park, pennants and stickers of the FC Barcelona were distributed among the youth.
In order to make sure that fair play is not taken for granted rather fully appreciated, the referees paid special attention to the fairness during each game. The Fair Play rating under the auspices of the SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz actually took care of fair play; in the entire game of over a hundred participants only one red card was shown. In addition, Japan, as the winner of the first Grazer-Park World Cup, actually was awarded the second place according to the Fair Play-based ranking behind Denmark! The Netherlands team won the second Place of the overall standings, Germany was third.
The good entertainment was not left behind: Before the final game between Japan - Germany, former professional soccer players played against the soccer players from Sturm Graz, the team GAK played against the FC municipal council with well-known politicians and a drum group of the Rwandan-Austrian Cultural Association animated dancing performances from young adults. The filmmaker Markus Mörth accompanied players throughout the day - the documentation will be shown in autumn 2010 at the FARE Action Week in Graz and Vienna.
The award ceremony took place on the main stage of the Chialas'Afriqas festival. The organizer of the Africa Festival Week, Emmanuel Kamdem and Mrs. Gabriele Eschig presented certificates, medals and prizes to the winners of the day.
Whether with or without a migration background, whether in the possession of Austrian citizenship or not - once more it was clear how much Austria wins by all these young people living here. The clear rules of the game provided the framework for a fair treatment of each other. This enthusiasm of young people for the football game made it possible to play together in mixed and colorful teams and to join hands for a common goal – that’s to win the first Grazer Park World Cup.
Media Reports: Falter, Kleine Zeitung Graz, Megaphon, Österreich, Frontal
