Football to be played again at reception centres this summer
Press release of the Finnish Immigration Service, reception centres and the Football Players Association of Finland:
The Finnish Immigration Service and the Football Players Association of Finland (FPA), an association representing the interests of football players in the country, will this summer continue their cooperation that goes back three years now.
The aim of the cooperation has been to enrich the everyday lives of asylum seekers with football. It has traditionally included an annual championship tournament between reception centres from across the country. This year, the tournament will take place at Eerikkilä Sports Institute on 24–25 May.
Other forms of cooperation vary from one year to another. This year, collections of football boots for charity will be organised for the first time in the municipalities where reception centres are located. The aim is to improve the opportunities of asylum seekers to play football.
“This year people can help by donating their old or outgrown football boots to charity. Our cooperation has been very successful from the beginning and we have been further developing its forms, with the focus on football. The aim is to introduce football to reception centres permanently. We are sure that with football we can help create great moments for people at the centres,” says the FPA’s Executive Manager Markus Juhola.
Reception centre instructors to be trained in football
On the occasion of the tournament at Eerikkilä, the FPA will train reception centre instructors in football to ensure that football courses can be organised for asylum seekers in different parts of the country. These courses, entitled ‘Football Belongs to Everyone’, will begin at the reception centres in June.
The responsibility for the instructor training rests with Tero Koskela, a Finnish former top player and Head of Sami Hyypiä Academy. Twenty employees from different reception centres will attend the training. The football team to be used for the training will be that of DHL Express, which is one of the FPA’s partners.
Twelve reception centres from across Finland to compete for the championship
The following twelve teams will take part in the tournament: Kotka, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Helsinki, Kajaani and Lammi (Group A), and Turku, Pudasjärvi, Joutseno, Metsälä Helsinki, Kemi and Kristinestad (Group B).
All the above teams will meet once in their respective groups and then play for their final standings. Turku will be defending their 2015 championship.
The tournament is organised at Eerikkilä Sports Institute for the second time.
“Residents of reception centres will have an opportunity to get to know each other and play football surrounded by Finnish nature. It is extremely important to reception centres,” says Mr Juhola.
Eerikkilä Sports Institute is the national training centre for football
Eerikkilä Sports Institute is a sports and leisure centre founded in the municipality of Tammela in southwest Finland in 1949. Since its foundation, it has also operated as the national education and training centre for football.
Activities run at Eerikkilä are in line with the international Show Racism the Red Card campaign tackling racism and discrimination both on and off the pitch.
“Eerikkilä is a place to unite Finnish football. The international centre is regularly visited by current and former top players and potential future talents. It is an honour to be part of all this,” adds Mr Juhola.
Further information for the media:
Football Players Association of Finland:
Markus Juhola, Executive Manager, tel. +358 50 596 0727, e-mail: markus@jpy.fi
Finnish Immigration Service:
Kati Vahtera, Senior Adviser, Reception Unit, tel. +358 295 430 431, firstname.lastname@migri.fi
