“Football without Borders” - German and French Embassies’ Initiative in Skopje
How football brought people together from different countries and helped them overcome cultural differences
June 13th, 2016
"Football without Borders" is a joint project of the German Embassy, the French Institute in Skopje, the NGO Loja Center for Balkan Cooperation, Une Terre Culturelle in Marseille and Youth Centre Betonia in Berlin. It is supported by the German-French Youth Office and the Macedonian Football Federation.
At the Macedonia Football Federation on May 30th, German and French ambassadors to Skopje, Christine Althauser and Laurence Auer, held a conference to ended the Franco-German-Macedonian project “Football without borders”. They emphasized the social skills which football promotes, and underlined how it is an opportunity to bring people together and to overcome boundaries and prejudices. The secretary general of the Macedonian Football Federation Filip Popovski called for toleration of the differences between societies and stressed the unifying power of sport.
For three days 25 young people from Berlin, Paris, and Macedonia – both boys and girls – have been together in Tetovo and Skopje to overcome language barriers and, obviously, play football. A friendly match against the Embassy’s team was won by the “Youth” with great excitement and dedication. People were also interviewed and filmed while exploring the cities. After a final tournament at the Macedonian Football Federation and a discussion with the sports sociologist Prof. Anne Tatu from the University of France-Comté, parting was extremely difficult.
The project was funded by the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the French-German Youth Office DFJW, performed by the Centre for Balkan Cooperation LOJA in Tetovo, in cooperation with the German Embassy in Skopje and the French Cultural Institute.
