The Irish FA Foundation’s Community Engagement Team is taking a squad from the Belfast Met Football Academy to Romania today to take part in a special cup competition.
The FAIRER Cup, which is being staged in Bucharest this weekend, is part of a project aimed at tackling radicalisation in football.
The Irish FA Foundation has been running the FAIRER Erasmus Project (Football Against Radicalisation) in partnership with the football federations of Romania, Malta and Latvia, as well as the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, over the past 30 months.
Workshops have been delivered to a range of partners, including UEFA, The Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs, NIFL and NIFL clubs, PSNI and community groups.
The culmination of the project is the FAIRER Cup tournament and an end of project conference.
More than 1000 people have been part of the project, the aim of which was to discuss, propose and implement solutions for associations, clubs, supporters’ groups and communities to help eliminate radicalisation and violence.
At the tournament 10 young people from Belfast Met aged 17-19 will represent Northern Ireland and play teams from Romania, Malta and Latvia.
The seven-a-side competition, featuring mixed teams, is set to be staged on Saturday afternoon, while the end of project conference is due to be held in the Romanian capital on Saturday morning.
Mark Dennison, Community Engagement Manager at the Irish FA Foundation, will be speaking at the conference.
He explained: “Over the past 30 months it has been a pleasure to work in partnership with the Romanian, Maltese and Latvian football federations, supported by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, to deliver the FAIRER Project (Football Against Radicalisation).
“The workshops have been educational and impactful, resulting in partners, including many young people, providing solutions to radicalisation in football.
“I would like to thank everyone for making the project such a success. As the project concludes we have a fantastic opportunity to showcase what is good about football in Northern Ireland by taking a team of young men and women to Bucharest to take part in the FAIRER Cup.”
The Community Engagement Manager said there had been good collaboration with NIFL, PSNI and UEFA during the project. In Northern Ireland there was a focus on improving fan behaviour and preventing radicalisation through various programmes.
Natalie Thompson, Belfast Met Football Academy Co-ordinator, said Belfast Met was proud to be participating in the prestigious tournament in Bucharest.
She pointed out: “It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase all that is great about football in Northern Ireland. Representing our football academy, a talented team of young men and women will travel to Romania to compete, connect and celebrate the unifying spirit of the game.
“This international experience not only highlights the sporting talent nurtured at Belfast Met but also reflects our commitment to fairness, inclusion and excellence both on and off the pitch.”
Image: The squad from Belfast Met Football Academy who will be representing Northern Ireland in Romania this weekend.
