The “Mondialito – tournament for peace” represents an important initiative that combines sport with the values of community building, promotingintegration and international cooperation through football. An event, the Mondialito, which takes place in Perugia is that sees the participation of eight teams competing for the title.
The eight teams, coming from different nations: Ecuador, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Italy, in the first group and Gambia, Congo, Peru and Cameroon in the second, compete every weekend and will continue the competition until July 13th, eager to demonstrate the passion for sport and the common desire for peace.
The presence of players like Christian Kouan, who expressed his support for the initiative, underlines the commitment of the world of football to promoting positive messages. The matches take place at the sports facilities of the Prepo Football Federation, with a calendar that includes exciting and meaningful matches and which has so far seen a large participation in the stands.
The feat achieved is mainly the result of the commitment of Enrico Ganje, player from the Spoleto and Castel Rigone fields, who concluded his last season in Piccione. “The numerous African communities present in Perugia and throughout Umbria, together with the countless African footballers active in amateur championships, represent a wealth. In these complicated times for world peace, we have decided to spread a positive signal through the universal language of football,” Ganje highlighted. ” I arrived in Italy in 2002, and although I am now perfectly integrated, I do not forget and deeply understand the sense of disorientation that can accompany new arrivals. To make my contribution I got active and started matches intercultural football every Saturday morning, with the aim of facilitating integration, offering an alternative and constructive summer pastime and weekends, and ensuring that young people’s free time is not dominated exclusively by work“.
The Mondialito is in its first edition and Ganje expresses sincere gratitude towards the sponsors, the FIGC Regional Committee and the Municipality of Perugia for their support of the event. However, he does not hide the disappointment at the request of the Perugian municipality to remove its logo during the electoral period, a decision that left a shadow over a laudable initiative, creating an unwanted link between social merit and electoral politics. A decision which, however, does not affect the commitment of Ganje and the other organizers in promoting positive values through sport.
