Last week, our team gathered in Orta Nova, Italy, for the kick-off meeting of the “Pass a Ball, Make a Friend” project. The meeting brought together partners from Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal and Spain, and set the foundation for our work over the next two years.

We discussed how football can be used to promote fair play, reduce conflicts and create meaningful connections among young players.

With the plans now in motion, we’re looking forward to the activities ahead and the positive impact this project aims to achieve. Stay tuned for updates as we move forward.

Pass a Ball, Make a Friend project will be implemented by Club for Youth Empowerment 018 (KOM 018) from Serbia in cooperation with Младежко европейско общество / Youth European Society – YES from Bulgaria, Barcel’hona Sports Events from Spain, JuvenTagus – Associação Desportiva e Juvenil from Portugal, Tiquitaca Associazione-Sportiva from Italy and Futbolen Klub Septemvri from Bulgaria. Pass a Ball, Make a Friend project aims to address the escalating conflicts and hate speech among local football teams, which have led to physical fights. Project will address these challenges by using football as a platform to combat hate speech, reduce physical conflicts and promote social inclusion. By promoting peaceful sportsmanship, “Pass a Ball, Make a Friend” not only improves relationships within football teams but also sets an example for broader community cohesion and understanding. Specific objectives: 1) To create a comprehensive training module designed to instill values of fair play, respect, and inclusivity in young football players and supporters; 2) To bring together young football players from partner countries to promote intercultural exchange, collaboration, and sportsmanship; 3) To reduce physical conflicts by teaching conflict resolution and fair play, ensuring the focus remains on the spirit of the game; 4) To equip young football players and supporters with leadership skills to become ambassadors for sportsmanship in their teams, communities, and beyond; 5) To raise awareness about the problem of conflicts and hate speech among the local football teams as well as among the supporters; 6) To promote social inclusion by encouraging social dialogue cooperation among diverse teams, teams’ supporters and members of local communities and in this way breaking down stereotypes and prejudices. The activities of the “Pass a Ball” project will be carried out in Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Spain over a period of 24 months, from 01.11.2025 to 31.10.2027. The project is co-financed by the European Union.