300 children mark Europe Day by playing football

Some 300 boys and girls from 20 football nurseries took part in this year's edition of the European Parliament Football Festival held at the Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali on Saturday.

The tournament, organised by the European Parliament Valletta Office and the Youth Football Association, is part of series of activities organised to commemorate Europe Day, a feast of peace, unity and prosperity celebrated across the EU.

Opening the festival, Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil encouraged the young players to appreciate the principle of "unity in diversity" through which Europe celebrates unity between people from different cultures, religions and who speak different languages.

After a brief address from Julian Vassallo, head of the European Parliament Valletta Office, and Alfred Cacciotolo, from the Youth FA' referees signalled kick-off allowing the young footballers to show off their skills and enjoy the most popular game in the world.

This is the second consecutive year in a row that the festival is being held.

Each nursery was represented by 14 young players from the under-12 sections, as well as the coaches and club officials accompanying them.

After the games, each player was given a token of participation and branded footballs were handed to the nurseries. Another 22 clubs will take part in the second day of the festival, which will be held on Saturday, between 8.45 a.m. and noon.

The central themes behind this festival are the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue 2008, as well as FIFA's motto United Against Racism.