'Football 4 Peace'

The English Football Association (FA) has been in Israel to observe a pilot project called Football 4 Peace that aims to bring divided communities together and highlight co-existence in areas of tension.

Social inclusion
Based around the northern regions of Nazareth and Galilee, the social inclusion project uses football as a way of uniting children, aged 9-14, from the local Jewish and Arab communities.

Successful model
The Football 4 Peace coaching programme teaches the children how to deal with conflict and celebrate success together, and the FA's regional football development manager, Martin Preston, believes the initiative could easily translate to other shores. "The FA really wants to take this project forward and we're looking at ways of using the successful Israel model in other communities, both here and abroad, where there may be cohesion challenges," said Preston, who was among the FA representatives in Israel.

'Fair play, teamwork and respect'
Football 4 Peace is a joint University of Brighton and British Council initiative pioneered by professor John Sugden, who has taught extensively in areas of conflict. Preston highlighted the programme's key themes: "The project looks to lay down a framework of fair play, teamwork and respect for the children, coaches and communities, and by the end of the week in Israel I think the project achieved a huge amount.

Trust
"Everyone kept within their own groups at first and didn't really want to mingle but they soon mixed and it wasn't long before Arab and Jewish children were working, communicating and trusting each other throughout the sessions," continued Preston of the scheme which is backed by the Israeli Sports Authority.

International relations
The Israel project is just one example of the FA's work across the globe as Jane Bateman, the association's head of international relations, explained: "We've been committed to building relationships in every part of the world since 2000 through a dedicated International Development Programme. The FA is undoubtedly one of the most proactive associations in sharing best practice while offering help, advice and education within the football confederations."