Bobby Charlton in Israel for Football 4 Peace
10 / 07 / 2009

(London) Football legend Sir Bobby Charlton today joins Arab and Jewish children for a special coaching session to mark the end of a week long British Council Football 4 Peace training camp in Israel.
More than 500 young people aged 10-14 from Arab and Jewish communities across the Galilee region in northern Israel took part in the camp this week. The training was delivered by 120 university student sports coaches from the UK and Germany along with sport professionals from Israel and culminated in the coaching session with Sir Bobby and four coaches from the Manchester United Foundation.
In its ninth year, Football 4 Peace is a partnership between the British Council, Brighton University, the German Sports University and the Israel Sports Authority and promotes equality, inclusion, respect, trust and responsibility through football. Since it began in 2001, over 4,000 young people, both boys and girls, have taken part in the training camps developing their football skills and building bridges between the two communities.
Invited by the British Council to take part in the project, Sir Bobby said:
“Using football to bring different people together is an approach that we endorse as part of our community outreach at Manchester United. I am delighted to be extending this philosophy to Israel. It is a privilege to be working with Arab and Jewish youngsters and to be a part of Football 4 Peace.”
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For more information please contact James Rowe at the British Council Press Office on 020 7389 4939 / james.rowe@britishcouncil.org or Ravit Harari on +972 3 611 3629 /+972 54-4880700 / ravit.harari@britishcouncil.org.il in Israel.
Notes to editors
The British Council
· Celebrating 75 years in 2009, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
· We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people.
· We work in the arts, education, English, science, sport and governance and last year we engaged face to face with 13.2 million people and reached 221 million.
· We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.
