EFDN Highlights – January, February & March
As 2023 comes to an end, EFDN invites you to look back on this year’s remarkable activities, projects and news stories. Again, 2023 has been a truly inspiring and succesful year in which we could welcome a lot of our members at our conferences and the tournaments. We take pride in having showcased the social impact of football once again over the past year, through a variety of projects and initiatives. We are ready to make football matter again in 2024! But before we look ahead, let’s have a look at some highlights from January, February and March 2023.
SPECIAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TOURNAMENT A GREAT SUCCESS!
On Wednesday 8 February 2023, the second edition of the Special Champions League took place. After the pilot edition in Breda in November 2021, the tournament now took place in beautiful Lisbon. With a pitch that was right next to the Estádio da Luz, Benfica’s stadium. The beautiful venue coupled with the collaboration of EFDN, Fundação Benfica, Special Olympics and Masterfoot were the perfect elements to make the tournament successful.
Twelve different teams filled with boys and girls participated in the tournament, also the vast majority were still children. Present at the tournament were: AFC Ajax, Werder Bremen, Benfica, KAS Eupen, SD Huesca, Levante UD, NEC Nijmegen, Foundation 92, Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Everton and the Special Olympics Portugal team.
Click here for the full article!
START OF #MORETHANFOOTBALL ACTION WEEKS!
On March 17th, the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks started and ran till 13.04.2023 encouraging the participants to showcase their CSR/ESG related activities they organise in their communities.
The #Morethanfootball Action Weeks is a global campaign for the European football community to showcase the impact of their community and social responsibility activities and programmes. Initiated by the European Football for Development Network, the campaign provides the wider European football family with a platform to inform and engage with fans and stakeholders on their Community and Social Responsibility activities and raise awareness of the transformative role European club football can play in changing peoples’ lives for the better.
Stop scrolling, It's time for A(u)ction! ⚽️👕
— Morethanfootball (@eumorethanagame) March 17, 2023
Help us prove that football really is much more than just a game.
Hereby the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks are officially kicked off! 🙌
👉For more information: https://t.co/DZiqefAgBm pic.twitter.com/ZW2fJ2v6Sr
During the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks, the participating organisations celebrate the work they do on and off the pitch on a local, national and international level through special match-day activities, digital campaigns and the use of more traditional media methods such as banners, billboards, posters and brochures.
Next year the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks will return from 18.03 – 24.04.2024, click here for more information!
19th EFDN Conference in Seville, an inspiring success
The next EFDN #Morethanfootball Conference took place from the 20th until the 22nd of March 2023 at the Benito Villamarín Stadium of Real Betis Balompié in Seville, Spain. This event was the next European gathering for our Community and Social Responsibility (CSR) network after the successful 18th EFDN Conference that took place in Budapest in November 2022, hosted by EFDN Member Ferenvárosi TC at the Groupama Arena. EFDN Conferences bring a unique opportunity for CSR experts and newcomers into the CSR world to learn from each other and share their insights about various topics.
This year featured interesting speakers such as Dr. Niko Roorda, Vincen Reulet (UEFA), Rafael Muela Pastor (Real Betis Balompié) During the conference we also had the famous break out sessions. The break out sessions featured presentations from clubs such as: KAA Gent, Montrose FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers and FC Sankt Pauli. Furthermore, the sustainability panel on the second day is also worth mentioning. This panel was led by our CEO Hubert Rovers with Rafael Muela Pastor from Real Betis Balompié and Aslı E. Koç from Istanbul Başakşehir FK. The panel’s main discussion was, of course, sustainability and also how collaboration plays a huge role in sustainability.
Click here for the recap of day 1 and day 2!
Interesting study visits during 19th EFDN Conference
We left behind the first day of the 19th EFDN #Morethanfootball Conference. One of the highlights of the first day were the study visits. The study visits consisted of blind football, amputee football, walking football and id football. These study visits, which the conference participants could watch and participate in, were probably the biggest source of joy of the day.
With the study visits we want to create a connection between the athletes and the attendees. By developing a bond and letting them understand the way they play. During the activity the attendees and athletes created a memory they’ll probably never forget. Thanks to the study visit, we hope that with the empathy of everyone, they have the experience that we want to put themselves in the shoes of the athletes.
