Football For Peace

Football for Peace is an international nongovernmental organisation headquartered in London that treats football as a practical instrument of diplomacy, community integration and social development. Rather than operating as a conventional sports club, league or commercial football brand, the organisation builds programmes around peace matches, youth leadership, women’s empowerment, intercultural exchange and locally based “City for Peace” projects. Its stated approach is to use the soft power of sport to create contact between communities, encourage dialogue and develop more resilient local institutions. The initiative originated in South America in 2006, when Chilean football figure Elias Figueroa began a campaign known as Futbol Por la Paz. In 2013, English-born Pakistani footballer Kashif Siddiqi became an international co-founder and the concept moved from a campaign into an incorporated NGO structure identified as Football for Peace Global. The organisation expanded the South American idea into programmes in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East, with activities described in London, Chile, India and Liberia. Its work has been associated with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, which helped place the organisation within the wider sport-for-development and sport-for-peace field. A central element of the organisation’s model is the Football Diplomacy process created in 2015. This combines symbolic matches involving people from countries or communities with difficult relationships, longer-term “City for Peace” legacy projects and educational toolkits designed to influence social behaviour. The process is intended to bring together young people from different faiths, ethnicities and social backgrounds, while also using football events to create diplomatic visibility. Examples include a 2015 peace match involving Afghanistan and Great Britain, a Birmingham youth programme following local tensions, and projects in Luton, Kerala and Liberia. Football for Peace has also used high-profile sporting and diplomatic participation to draw attention to its work. In 2016, Pelé and Ronaldinho were associated with the organisation’s inaugural Diplomatic Football Peace Ball in London, hosted by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein. The same period included a London youth workshop attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and a Vatican event at which Siddiqi discussed sport’s role in bringing people together. In 2018, the organisation launched or promoted Football Saves Lives, with support from prominent football figures and a visit to its London programme. It also engaged with Liberian football and political institutions about applying football diplomacy in Monrovia. The organisation’s programmes have included women’s empowerment and gender-equality initiatives. In 2017, Football for Peace partnered with Equal Playing Field on a high-altitude women’s football project in Tanzania. More than 30 women from six continents took part after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, with the match presented as a record-setting statement about women’s participation and unequal access to sport. In Kerala, a legacy programme linked to the 2016 Sait Nagjee Trophy was designed for female young people from different communities and focused on empowerment, cultural exchange and peace. Football for Peace describes itself as governed through an executive board, a steering committee and a Footballers for Peace Council. Hogan Lovells has been identified as providing governance support. Publicly described participants have included co-founder Kashif Siddiqi, co-founder Elias Figueroa, advisers and ambassadors from football, government and public life, and local partners such as football associations, councils, schools and community trusts. The available public material provides substantial information about projects and ambassadors but limited detail about current operational leadership, finances, staffing or present-day programme scale.

Football for Peace developed from a South American football-and-peace campaign into an international NGO using sport as a tool for diplomacy and social development. Elias Figueroa, a Chilean football legend, began the initiative in 2006 under the name Futbol Por la Paz. The original concept focused on football’s ability to create informal contact and shared identity among people divided by national, cultural or political differences. In 2013, English-born Pakistani footballer Kashif Siddiqi became an international co-founder and helped establish Football for Peace Global as an NGO. The organisation’s headquarters were based in London, while its programme concept was extended beyond the Americas to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East. Public descriptions identify programme activity in London, Chile, India and Liberia. The organisation has been associated with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace and presents its work as part of the broader sport-for-development movement. The organisation formalised its Football Diplomacy process in 2015. This model had three connected elements: peace matches designed to create symbolic encounters, City for Peace projects intended to leave a longer-term local legacy, and educational toolkits covering youth leadership and social change. The first international peace match described by the organisation took place in September 2015 at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Participants connected with Afghanistan and Great Britain played together in a reconciliation-themed five-a-side event, with Harry Redknapp leading the unified Afghanistan and Great Britain side. The City for Peace concept was applied in Birmingham in December 2015. The project worked with young people from different faith and cultural backgrounds and was linked to the need for community dialogue following local tensions associated with the 2014 Operation Trojan Horse controversy. Prince William and Wilfried Lemke, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, attended an event recognising young peace ambassadors. In 2016, Football for Peace expanded its public diplomacy activity. Joko Widodo, then president of Indonesia, visited a youth workshop in Newham, East London, where approximately 60 young people and Football for Peace ambassadors took part in activities based on football diplomacy. Later that year, Siddiqi was invited to the Vatican for the launch of Sport at the Service of Humanity, where he spoke about the organisation’s global peace process and the unifying potential of sport. The organisation also linked its work to the Sait Nagjee Trophy in Kozhikode, Kerala. The 2016 tournament brought together clubs and representative teams from several countries, and Football for Peace subsequently supported a women-focused legacy programme designed to promote empowerment, cultural exchange and peace among young people from different communities. Ronaldinho was associated with the initiative as an ambassador and guest of honour. A major gender-equality activity followed in 2017, when Football for Peace partnered with Equal Playing Field on an altitude football project in Tanzania. More than 30 women from six continents climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and played a match at roughly 5,429 metres. The event was presented as a world-record and as a challenge to international inequalities affecting women’s access to football and sport. In late 2017, the City for Peace model was introduced in Luton through a partnership involving Bedfordshire FA, Luton Town FC Community Trust, Luton Borough Council and Football for Peace. The programme sought to help young people from different communities build mutual respect and personal skills in a town that had experienced far-right extremism concerns. During 2018, the organisation promoted Football Saves Lives and extended City for Peace activity to India and Liberia. The Indian launch was associated with a Sport is GREAT event in Mumbai involving the UK Foreign Office, Premier League-linked partners, Ranveer Singh and Nemanja Vidic. In Liberia, Football for Peace announced plans with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to develop Monrovia as the first African City for Peace project in its programme. Siddiqi also met Liberian football icon and president George Weah to discuss football diplomacy. The organisation’s described governance structure consists of an executive board, a steering committee and a Footballers for Peace Council, with Hogan Lovells identified as a governance-supporting legal firm. Public sources provide more detail on projects, partnerships and ambassadors than on current leadership, finances, staffing or operational status. Its historical public identity is therefore best understood as an international football-based peacebuilding initiative rather than a conventional consumer brand.

• 2018

  Football Saves Lives and Liberia expansion

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation promoted Football Saves Lives and announced City for Peace plans involving India and Monrovia, Liberia.

• 2017

  Kilimanjaro women’s football project

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation partnered on a high-altitude women’s match designed to highlight gender inequality in sport.

• 2016

  London diplomatic football event

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The inaugural Diplomatic Football Peace Ball was held with high-profile football guests and Prince Ali bin Al Hussein as host.

• 2015

  Football Diplomacy process is created

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation introduced a framework based on peace matches, City for Peace projects and sports-diplomacy toolkits.

• 2015

  First international peace match

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  A reconciliation-themed Afghanistan and Great Britain football event took place in Greenwich, London.

• 2013

  Football for Peace Global is established

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Kashif Siddiqi joined Figueroa as an international co-founder and the campaign transitioned into an NGO structure.

• 2006

  Futbol Por la Paz begins in South America

  [1]Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Elias Figueroa started the South American campaign that later developed into the Football for Peace organisation.

A nongovernmental sport-for-development organisation that uses football as a non-political bridge between communities, countries and social groups.

• Peacebuilding framework · 2015

  Football Diplomacy process

  Football for Peace’s principal programme framework combines symbolic peace matches, local City for Peace legacy projects and educational sports-diplomacy toolkits. It is intended to use football to bring together people from different national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds, while providing structured youth leadership and dialogue activities beyond the match itself.

• Community programme · 2015

  City for Peace

  City for Peace is a place-based programme that works with local authorities, football associations, schools, clubs and community organisations. Projects described in Birmingham, Luton, Kerala and Liberia used football to develop mutual understanding, youth skills, women’s empowerment and cooperation across communities.

• Peace and development campaign · 2018

  Football Saves Lives

  Football Saves Lives is a campaign presenting football as a means of protecting communities, encouraging inclusion and supporting peace-oriented social development. The 2018 campaign was promoted with support from football figures and included engagement with the organisation’s London programme.

• Sports diplomacy event · 2015

  Peace matches

  Peace matches are deliberately structured football events involving communities, countries or institutions whose interaction carries a reconciliation or dialogue message. Football for Peace used this format for the Afghanistan–Great Britain event in 2015 and for wider equality and diplomacy initiatives.

• 2018Football Saves Lives

  United Kingdom · Global

  A public campaign used football personalities and the organisation’s programmes to promote football as a vehicle for peace and community development.

  Source
• 2018India and Liberia City for Peace expansion

  India · Liberia

  Football for Peace announced or promoted new City for Peace activity in India and plans to develop Monrovia as a peace-focused football city.

  Outcome. The Liberia plan was described as the organisation’s first City for Peace initiative on the African continent.

  Source
• 2017Equal Playing Field altitude project

  Tanzania · Global

  Football for Peace partnered with Equal Playing Field on a women’s football project involving participants from six continents and a match on Mount Kilimanjaro.

  Outcome. The event raised awareness of international gender inequality in sport and was presented as a record-setting match.

  Source
• 2017Luton City for Peace

  United Kingdom

  Football for Peace worked with Bedfordshire FA, Luton Town FC Community Trust and Luton Borough Council to engage young people across Luton communities.

  Outcome. The initiative aimed to strengthen mutual respect, social understanding and personal development.

  Source
• 2016Kerala women’s empowerment legacy programme

  India

  Following cooperation around the Sait Nagjee Trophy in Kozhikode, Football for Peace supported a legacy initiative for female youth from different communities.

  Outcome. The programme was intended to promote women’s empowerment, cultural exchange and peace.

  Source
• 2015Birmingham City for Peace

  United Kingdom

  A Birmingham programme connected young people from different faith and cultural communities through football and peace-ambassador activities.

  Outcome. The project publicly recognised youth peace ambassadors and established a local model for community integration.

  Source

• 2018

  Expansion into India and LiberiaStrategy

  Background

  Football for Peace sought to extend its city-based peacebuilding model beyond Europe and existing South Asian activity.

  Action taken

  The organisation promoted a City for Peace programme in India and announced cooperation with Liberia’s sports authorities concerning Monrovia.

  Aftermath

  Monrovia was presented as the organisation’s first City for Peace project on the African continent.

  Source

• 2015

  Creation of the Football Diplomacy processStrategy

  Background

  The organisation sought to move beyond one-off football events and create a repeatable peacebuilding model.

  Action taken

  It combined peace matches, City for Peace legacy projects and educational sports-diplomacy toolkits.

  Aftermath

  The framework became the basis for projects involving youth integration, international reconciliation and social change.

  Source

• 2013

  Transition from campaign to international NGOStrategy

  Background

  The South American Futbol Por la Paz concept had previously operated as a campaign led by Elias Figueroa.

  Action taken

  Kashif Siddiqi joined Figueroa as co-founder and helped establish Football for Peace Global as an international NGO.

  Aftermath

  The organisation expanded its intended reach from the Americas to programmes across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

  Source

1. 1Football for Peaceen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Football for Peace Global official websitefootballforpeaceglobal.org