Local teams (categories U11 + U12) will meet international guests from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary and Germany. As in the previous two years the hosts are the Viennese clubs FAC-Team for Vienna and SC Suessenbrunn.
Under the slogan ‘Vienna meets Balkan’, the initiative aims to make a common stand against nationalism and racism in sport in a multicultural environment. As well as the football matches, participants will also take part in workshops and an evening social event that is organised in the framework of the Austrian wide initiative ‘Nosso Jogo – Initiative for a global Fair Play’ in the city centre of Vienna.
BEAMS youth magazine
The fringe programme and the intercultural workshop session on the first afternoon are part of the EU project BEAMS „Stop watching – start seeing“. In BEAMS youths are dealing with prejudices and stereotypes in sports. An outcome is the new youth magazine published in three languages that was mainly produced in cooperation with the Vienna Business School Hamerlingplatz and UKI (Committee to support the integration of migrants).
SK Rapid Vienna coach Zoran Barisic says in one of the interviews:
“The international FairPlay youth tournament ‘Vienna meets Balkan’ is more than just a normal tournament. It is an event that brings together youngsters from the Western Balkan region (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic Macedonia) and from Croatia with young players from Austria focusing not only on the sporting aspects but also on the international dialogue, the intercultural exchange and respect. Every sporting get-together – especially such a big tournament – strongly contributes to overcome prejudices, racism, discrimination and nationalism.”
The youth tournament is part of the international project “Football Unites the Alps, Adriatic and the Balkans” organised in co-operation with UEFA, the FAs from Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia and the FARE network, and supported by the Sports Department of the City of Vienna as by the Austrian FA and the Austrian Ministry for Sports through their support of FairPlay initiative.
The BEAMS project is organised with the financial support from the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union and co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADA).