A TEENAGE FOOTBALL FAN FROM THE CITY OF OURO FINO IN BRAZIL HAS WON A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME COMPETITION TO VISIT THE UK THIS MONTH TO WATCH HIS FAVOURITE TEAM CHELSEA PLAY AT STAMFORD BRIDGE.

16 year-old Caio Ribeiro won a competition organised by the British Council and Premier League through their Premier Skills programme. The competition invited entrants to name their favourite Premier League football club and then create a video or presentation showing connections between their home town or city and the town or city where their favourite Premier League club is based.

Entries were received from all around the world, from Belgrade to Buenos Aires. Caio’s winning entry, along with the runner up entries, can be viewed at:

http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/fans/competition-entries

Premier Skills uses football as a tool to engage with and develop the skills of young people in community coaching and English language skills. The English language element of the programme focuses on using the motivational power of football-based content, and the huge global interest in the Premier League, to support English language learning through a range of free materials and resources for teachers and learners of English around the world. Already, over one million materials have been distributed worldwide through the programme.  

The competition forms part of this offer, providing participants with the opportunity to apply their English language skills in a creative way to demonstrate their passion for their Premier League club, with the fantastic prize of getting to see their favourite players in the flesh.

In addition to watching Chelsea in action against Blackburn Rovers this Saturday 15th January as a VIP guest of the club and the Premier League, Caio has also visited Chelsea’s training ground, experiencing first hand their state of the art facilities, watching the first team train and meeting staff and players. He was presented with a signed, personalised Chelsea shirt by his fellow countryman, Brazilian International midfielder Ramires, who enjoyed hearing Caio’s story and spoke at length about his own journey to Chelsea and what he has learnt at the club.

Ramires said:

“I know that from when I arrived at Chelsea community work is an important part of the club. It’s an honour to welcome Caio to the training ground here in Cobham and I congratulate him on his outstanding work. He also believes that football can make a big difference to people’s lives and it is good that people from all over the world feel this strong connection with Chelsea.

“I would also like to thank the Premier League and the British Council for their great work and helping make today special and a day Caio will remember for a long time.”

Caio also visited the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in Central London and got the chance to meet Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, a fellow Chelsea fan. Hugh Robertson said:

“The Premier League has a big global appeal so it’s no surprise that this competition produced entries from all over the world, with Caio being a particularly appropriate winner given that Brazil will host the next World Cup.

“Premier Skills uses the power of football to help improve young people’s lives overseas. Not only does it develop their leadership skills, by training them to be community coaches, but it improves their English language skills too. I hope Caio enjoys the rest of his trip to the UK, and meeting his Chelsea heroes and sees Chelsea win on Saturday.”

Michael Houten, Premier Skills English language materials development manager, said:

“Football and English are two of the truly global languages of our time, and the incredible response we received to this competition shows how popular both the Premier League and learning English are to millions of people around the world. Through his winning film Caio amply demonstrates this passion and appetite. Now he will deservedly get to experience the thrill of watching his team Chelsea whilst of course having a chance to brush up on his English language skills!”