Armenia and Turkey win FIFA Fair Play Award

The national football associations of Armenia and Turkey have received the 2008 FIFA Fair Play Award for their part in encouraging dialogue between two countries which otherwise do not have any form of diplomatic relationship. The presentation took place at the 2008 FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich on Monday.

Historic initiative
On 6 September last year, the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, travelled to the Armenian capital Yerevan on the invitation of Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan to attend the FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 5 match between the two countries. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country held the EU presidency at the time, dubbed the meeting a historic and brave initiative. The visit was also welcomed by the international press, while the great majority of the Turkish public expressed their approval in opinion polls.

'Message of hope'
"As a result, sport, and more specifically football, has helped alleviate a situation where traditional diplomacy had failed since 1991, the year Armenia gained independence," FIFA said in a statement. "[Armenia and Turkey] have provided an extraordinary example of the power of sport's spirit, and have sent out a considerable message of hope in a region which has a great need of such messages," said UEFA President Michel Platini after the match in September (click here).

Return invitation
The Turkish President announced that he did not wish the dispute between the two nations to be part of his legacy for future generations. President Gül has also invited his Armenian counterpart to attend the FIFA World Cup qualifying match between the two sides in Istanbul on 14 October.

Palestinian presentation
At the FIFA gala, Mr Platini joined FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter in presenting the first Development Award to the Palestinian Football Association for the construction of the Al-Husseini stadium in Al-Ram, the country's first international-class stadium. This enabled Palestine to host their first home international on their own soil against Jordan in October 2008.