A success. That’s how to describe the first inter-district “Respect Futsal” challenge set up in Nice. The Amicale des Educateurs de Football de la Côte d’Azur and the French Football Federation (FFF) wish to bring people together and show that violence and insecurity are not rampant in sensitive neighborhoods. The FFF has a new priority: to highlight work that was overlooked in previous years. Raising awareness, training, and socially integrating young people through football are the main objectives. Thus, 192 young people from Nice, divided into twenty-four teams of eight, took over the Charles Ehrmann Park on Thursday, February 26, to compete in a handball pitch football tournament. “We have been organizing days like these for several years in the Paris region,” comments Mohamed Belkacemi, technical advisor for the FFF in charge of urban football. “The goal is to implement this in other cities of France.” It’s done now, and in style, as one might say in football lingo. Because the task is not easy. Bringing together youths from neighborhoods, sometimes rivals, is difficult.
A Day with the World Champions of ‘98
On Thursday, everything went extremely well, to the great delight of Mohamed and Claude Esposito, his counterpart in the Alpes-Maritimes. “It’s superb. There were no excesses, no physical or verbal threats. The behavior of the young people on and off the field is exemplary. They are fair-play, respectful, including of the environment. Nothing is left on the ground, etc.,” rejoices the national representative of the Côte d’Azur District. “There are no objectives in terms of sports but on the social level. We take unstructured youth and bring them into a structured setting. And today (yesterday, ed.), it is a success. We must thank the associations, the educators, and neighborhood facilitators,” he continues.
At the end of this tournament, the best team is naturally rewarded, but all teams were rated on nine criteria, including respect and fair-play. The youths receiving the highest score will go to Paris-Bercy on March 29 to attend the RTL-France 98 Futsal tournament. Participating are Paris Saint-Germain, the French Futsal team, and especially the 1998 World Champions! “A beautiful gift,” comments Mohamed Belkacemi. The Cougars team from the Liserons district wins the big prize, presented by Dominique Estrosi-Sassonne.
