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MOSCOW, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Gazprom's Football for Friendship (F4F) Eighth Season has finished. This

season, the first-ever Football for Friendship eWorld Championship united young

athletes from 104 countries. Over 1 million people participated in the events.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1372645/2020_Football_for_Friendship.jpg

"Uniting friends – uniting the world" – slogan of Gazprom's Football for

Friendship. Participants of the programme are Young Players and Journalists

aged 10-16. FIFA, UEFA, national football associations, and the world's leading

clubs support the programme. Roberto Carlos, World Cup and UEFA Champions

League winner, is the programme's Global Ambassador.

Young Participants held over 50 events with support of famous athletes,

representatives of football academies, and journalists of the world's leading

media. The final events of the season were held online. Over 100 football

academies presented their projects on children's football development at the

International F4F Forum. Projects from Bolivia, India, Nigeria, and Russia were

recognized as the best. FC Barcelona was voted as the most socially responsible

club to be awarded the Nine Values Cup.

The Granular Salamander team that untied young players from Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Turkey

became the winners of the F4F eWorld Championship. It was organized in the new

multiplayer football simulator Football for Friendship World. Today, on World

Football Day, it became available for download to everyone.

At the end of the 2020 season, Football for Friendship obtained the GUINNESS

WORLD RECORDS(TM)title for the Most users on a football/soccer video hangout.

Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors:

"Since 2013, Gazprom has been implementing the Football for Friendship

International Children's Social Programme. During this time, the project has

brought together thousands of boys and girls of different nationalities and

physical abilities from 211 countries. We can be proud of a whole generation of

grown-up athletes, public figures, journalists, and aspiring young people who

were given amazing opportunities for development by Football for Friendship."

Roberto Carlos, Football for Friendship Global Ambassador:

"Football for Friendship is a programme that brings together truly talented and

motivated kids who are in love with football, giving them the opportunity to

develop, learn more about each other and find new friends in other countries.

Many young football players dream of joining Football for Friendship, and the

universal human values promoted by the programme are important for the

children, for their future."

SOURCE:  Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship