Using the Olympic & Paralympic Values for major sporting events

Bayan Mahmud The Ivory Coast 2006 World Cup Team Eddie Afekafe Haiti National Under 15 Youth Team

Personal disaster His father was a professional footballer When he retired he trained to be a doctor In 2005 Bayan was 10 he came home one day to find his parents bodies They had both been murdered in a tribal attack He was sent to live in an orphanage with his brother – the gunmen returned As the brother tried to escape they lost contact with each other Age 15 he sneaked into a cargo container heading for Argentina

Escape to a new life Playing kick about football he was spotted by a scout from Boca Juniors ( the top club in the country) He was given a trial with the youth squad Offered a professional contract at 18 Changed his nationality Hopes to play in the world cup for Argentina

2006 Civil War in the Ivory Coast In 2006 a vicious civil war had been raging in the Ivory Coast Cote d’Ivoire as they are officially known qualified for the World Cup by beating the Sudan 3-1 in their final qualification game Didier Drogba of Chelsea appeared on National television to appeal for peace As result the warring group came together to agree a truce Peace talks were then started by President Laurent Gbagbo In the competition the team lost their first 2 group matches to Argentina & The Netherlands In their final game despite being 2-0 down against Serbia They fought back to win the game 3-2

Eddie Afekafe Community Inclusion Officer Manchester City FC When he was 19 he was convicted for attempted robbery Tried to steal a safe from a shop using an imitation firearm Eddie was sentenced to 6 years in prison He was released after 3 years Was given the chance to get his Level 2 football coaches qualification Started to contact clubs in Manchester – went alphabetically down a long list Heard nothing from those listed A to M The next on the list was Manchester City – he thought it would be a waste of time even trying them

City give him a chance He started as a volunteer in the club’s community office Working with youngsters from deprived backgrounds ‘my past became very relevant to my role here’ Now working with schools, colleges, universities, prisons & youth groups on life skills as well as football The project works with boys from 3 rival gang areas in Fallowfield, Moss Side and Rusholme They come together for 6 hours a week and play as teams – the gang politics are left at the door

Bid for the World Cup From gun crime at 19 Afekafe was asked to front the England bid to stage the 2018 World Cup As a direct result of his community work with Manchester City he was part of the team put together by the FA Sharing the presentation platform with the rest of his team David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William Proving football can change peoples lives

On January 12 a devastating earthquake caused major damage and hardship for the entire nation killing an estimated 220,000 people Around 2 million people were made homeless and were forced to live in tents and makeshift homes Despite this national devastation the under 15 youth football team had qualified for the first ever Youth Olympics to be held in August in Singapore Little was expected of the team who lost their opening match 9-0 to Bolivia However the team that had only been together for 6 weeks managed to win their second match against Vanuatu 2-1 which put them into the semi final against Singapore A penalty in the final minute secured a 2-0 win for Haiti against the host nation putting the Haitians into the final against – BOLIVIA !! Despite playing their match with passion & heart, they lost the final to Bolivia 5-0 but won the Silver medal ! You can follow the progress the 14 year olds made in the competition as their match are all on youtube