Streetfootballworld Pre-Festival Kicks off in Argentina

A milestone on the road to the main festival next year, the pre-festival will take place in the streets of Buenos Aires from Nov. 20 to Nov. 28. Delegations from 10 South American countries are expected to participate.

Running in connection with the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany, the main aim of the program is not to foster the development of football. Festival organizers are instead hoping to help young people learn for life through football. It is a means of access to young people who cannot be approached in any other way.

The managing director of the program, Jürgen Griesbeck, said things are going extremely well with regards to the recognition of the festival, particularly by the world soccer body, Fifa, the United Nations, the German Football Association and many other international organizations.

"The involvement of world organizations and the fact that we are part of the Fifa World Cup keep our projects running smoothly," Griesbeck said.

Minor problems

But there are minor problems arising as a result of different local working conditions, technology and time, according to Griesbeck.

"We are trying to make money and the approaches of real success have not been considered," he said. "The main focus right now is to try to consolidate networks of local projects, and globally streetfootballworld is the center of competence."

Mixed teams

Germany's "streetfootballworld for tolerance" is impossible without girls playing as well -- the guys' goal count only if the girls score too. But Griesbeck said that it's not only mixed teams (boys and girls) which are allowed to participate in the upcoming festival.

"Out of 24 teams that are going to participate in the pre-festival 05, only 10 are mixed teams and the rest are boys only."

Editor's note: DW-WORLD is a media partner of streetfootballworld.