India celebrates International Day of Football and Friendship with Russia bound Young Ambassador

India, one of the participating countries of the Gazprom Football for Friendship (F4F) Programme, joined over 200 cities of the world in celebrating the International Day of Football and Friendship. The celebration was conducted along with Surya Varikuti, the young defender selected to represent the country at the F4F Programme in Russia.

The young ambassadors from India will join the kids from across 211 countries and regions, in Moscow for the F4F Programme conducted between 8^th June to 15^th June this year. Surya, selected in the role of a young footballer, will join other young footballers from around the world, in Moscow. The children will be a part of the 32 International Teams of Friendship that play against each other in the Gazprom Football for Friendship International Championship. He will be joined by Rudresh Gaudnour, who will act as a young journalist and cover all the local and global activities of the F4F program as part of the International Children’s Press Center.

The International Day of Football and Friendship is celebrated by the participating countries, as a part of the F4F Programme. The day is celebrated along with the young ambassadors, who bind a blue-green Friendship bracelet to the attendees, as a symbol of this global initiative. The blue string of the bracelet symbolizes the peaceful sky, and the green string symbolizes the football field, accessible to everyone. On this day, the young ambassadors promote the key programme values (friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions and honour), among their peers.

Around the world, children, adults, personalities and football enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the International Day of Football and Friendship by conducting friendly matches, football tournaments, open trainings with star footballers, city holidays, sports events, media events and TV shows. The day, celebrated by cities around the world, has been supported by famous footballers, coaches, television hosts, actors and members of government agencies, all over the world.

The International Day of Football and Friendship was celebrated in India by conducting a friendly football match, on the sidelines of the U-13 National Youth League in Kolkata. The event saw Surya, the player of Karnataka’s Roots Football School, tie the blue-green Friendship bracelet to the participants, in the presence of AIFF officials. The AIFF officials were a part of the celebrations to give their best wishes to the ambassadors for the programme in Russia.