Football unites Wales and Russia

After organising games in London and Moscow during the Euro 2008 qualifiers between England and Russia and for the Champion’s League final, the British Council is providing another opportunity for football fans to come together and share their common passion. Wednesday’s fans friendly match will be attended by Andy Legg, Welsh International footballer who is currently player-manager of Llanelli, and Viktor Onopko, Russian defender and most capped player for the Russian national team.

Before the game, Andy Legg and Victor Onopko will lead a training session for Welsh school children from the British Council’s Dreams and Teams programme.  The training session will include a warm up, practice session, and a mini game with input from the two international players, to be rounded off by a closing ceremony awarding the children with souvenirs, certificates and tickets for the Russia Vs Wales match later. Working with local schools is a key part of the Football Unites project and helps to build trust and understanding between different cultures.

Football Unites is a partnership between the British Council and the Russian Football Union, and supporters’ clubs in both countries have played a key role in making the project a success.

Oleg Eletskiy, Head of Marketing and Communications for the British Council in Moscow said: "The aim of Football Unites is to use football to create partnerships and friendships between the UK and Russia. We are working with supporters to demonstrate that bringing fans together can produce very positive and powerful messaging. Hopefully the game between the Russia and Wales fans will be as entertaining as the action on the pitch between the teams at the Millennium Stadium."

-Ends-

For more information, please contact Suma Krishnamurthy at the British Council Cardiff Office on 029 2039 7376 or e-mail suma.krishnamurthy@britishcouncil.org

Notes to Editors

Football Unites

•           Football Unites is a partnership between the British Council and the Russian Football Union and celebrates sport and the friendships created through sport.

•           In addition to the friendly matches organised for fans, an important part of the project is interaction with local schools and children, building trust and understanding between different cultures.

•           The fans friendly game will take place on Wednesday 9 September at Cardiff International Sports Centre, Leckwith. Kick-off is at 1400hrs.

•           For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org/russia-science-football-unites.htm

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, 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.

•           Our total turnover in 2008/9 was £645 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £209 million.

•           For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org

Dream and Teams

•           Managed and developed by the British Council and the Youth Sport Trust with local in-country partners, it uses sport to develop international Young Leaders and establishes partnerships between schools around the world.