Football still belongs to everyone at all reception centres
Press release by the Finnish Immigration Service and the Football Players Association:
Since 2013, the Finnish Immigration Service and the Football Players Association of Finland (FPA), the representative organisation for football players in Finland, have been taking the most popular sport in the world football to reception centres to enrich the everyday lives of asylum seekers. The 'Football Belongs to Everyone' tour was has been aimed at instructing asylum seekers on the secrets of football and promoting equality and justice at reception centres.
This year, Kalle Parviainen, a former Finland-A international and player in the Veikkausliiga, coached reception centre instructors on how to perform well during reception centre football sessions.
"I got to coach reception centre instructors on all the things they can achieve through football. Football is clearly a big game all around the world. I had no idea in advance how many home countries the players were from. I am very proud to have been involved in this cooperation. Football is sure to help the immigrants integrate into Finnish society," Parviainen believes.
The Finnish Immigration Service and the FPA will continue their cooperation and pursue activities that have proven to be good practices. Football is the most popular sport among asylum seekers, and tours in previous years have been extremely well received.
'Football belongs to everyone' aims to generate year-round activities in all reception centres.
Next national finals in May
Football playing culminates in the annual reception centre finals. This year, the tournament was held in the Eerikkilä Sports Institute in Tammela. The tournament was so successful that the decision was taken to continue the tradition. The next reception centre finals will be held at the same venue on 24 to 25 May 2016.
"Helsinki won the first two tournaments, in which we were involved, but Turku won this time. The games are always emotional and passionate, but no one ever gets carried away. The best testimony to the position enjoyed by football around the world lies in the fact that people from difficult backgrounds find a common language through the game and play together for their side," says Panu Autio, Vice Chairman of the FPA.
The patron of the championship tournament is former Finland international Hannu Tihinen, who is currently Manager of Player Development at the Football Association of Finland. The Football Association of Finland has supported reception centres by donating equipment.
Show Racism the Red Card
For years, in cooperation with the Finnish Multicultural Sports Federation FIMU, the FPA has been involved in a campaign called Show Racism the Red Card. As a part of the campaign, players and spectators have joined together to physically show a red card to racism at various football events. Representatives of other sports have also recently joined the campaign.
"Among athletes, general equality and fairness as well as visible opposition to racism are matters of course," Koskela points out.
Further information for the media
Markus Juhola, Executive Manager, Football Players Association of Finland,
tel. +358 50 596 0727, email: markus@jpy.fi
Senior Adviser Olli Snellman, Finnish Immigration Service's reception unit
tel. +358 0295 430 431, e-mail: olli.snellman@migri.fi
