'Uniting friends – uniting the world!' – Gazprom International Children's Social Programme Football for Friendship goes digital
Gazprom’s International Children’s Social Programme, Football for Friendship, took place between November 27-December 9, celebrating its eighth year by going online for the first time in its history with a new multi-user football simulator, Football for Friendship World.
Football for Friendship was founded in 2013 and has already united over six million people from 211 countries, becoming a platform for the football community to share their experience and joy of the game.
The programme, operated globally by the AGT Communications Group, was a big challenge this year and took the decision to make the event digital. Over one million people participated in the final events
Below, we revisit some of the highlights of another successful year for Football for Friendship.
Gazprom1A Brilliant Idea
“I am so happy that Football for Friendship is taking place this year, despite all the circumstances, because for me, as an ambassador of the program, it is very important to see it in action, said 13-year-old Yazn from Syria, F4F Young Ambassador and Commentator.
“It’s a new vision of football and a nice opportunity to communicate with people through the game and to find new friends. What I like most in the game are the characters and their cool hairstyles, superpowers which make it more dynamic, and also the fact that it is important to play in the team and give passes as that influences your avatar’s energy and speed. And the idea with fan mode is just brilliant. I hope in the next edition there will be something for Young Commentators and Journalists, so we can also influence on the game. I am pretty sure that F4F World will find new heroes either in this virtual universe or in real life”.
Gazprom2Another Guinness World Record™
The Football for Friendship programme has over 50 national and international awards under its belt and marked 2020 with another major achievement.
This season, F4F set a new Guinness World Record™ for ‘Most users in a football/soccer video hangout’. Over 1,000 people joined the online practice session with footballing legends such as Roberto Carlos, Melody Donchet, Andreas Cetkovic, Anton Pavlinov, and others.
F4F had already appeared in the record books, of course, in 2019 earning a Guinness World Record™ for 'Most nationalities in a football training session' during an event in Madrid.
Gazprom3Football For Friendship World
F4F World was specially developed for the programme, which meant producing a game with six footballers in each team, each of them controlled by a different user. The new multiplayer football simulator is based on the core values of the programme, such as friendship, peace, and equality.
Nine essential values promoted by Football for Friendship were integrated into the gameplay, with a special scoring system and ranking which counts more than just goals. Fan Mode, meanwhile, allows users to influence the results of your favorite team's matches by correctly completing tasks that make the players stronger.
Gazprom4Football For Friendship eWorld Championship
This year’s young participants were the first in history to experience the F4F World game, created specifically for the project. For two days, 32 teams were fighting for victory from the qualifiers to the play-offs. The final matches became part of the Grand Final closing show, which was broadcast live. The winners of the F4F eWorld Championship received tickets to the 2021 UEFA Championship League Final in Istanbul.
Football for Friendship eWorld Championship winners: Granular Salamander – Anna (Russia), Adriana (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Alinur (Kazakhstan), Mihail (Latvia), Hamza (UAE), Young Coach: Muhammet (Turkey)