The match was played at stadium Banadir in Mogadishu on
Sunday 7th of September 2014 after the UN special representative for
Somalia Nicholas Kay requested the Somali FA to organize the match this weekend
as an early celebration for the International event which is annually observed
throughout the world to strengthen the ideals of peace in the world.
Before the UN representative was invited to kick the
first ball of the match, the Somali Football federation President Abdiqani Said
Arab and the UN representative Nicholas Kay talked to the media to high light
the importance of the peace day program.
"It is a great honour
for the Somali Football Federation to welcome the top UN official to Stadium
Banadir for the first time and his arrival here is a clear indication that the
UN was interested in football by preferring to mark the world peace celebration
with football match with the help from Somali FA” President Abdiqani Said Arab
noted.
"Football is the people’s game as more than 90% of
Somalis are football-loving people and that is why the UN special representative
Mr. Nicholas Kay arrived here today and even dressed in our national football team
shirt and we recognize him as member of the football family” SFF president emphasized.
As football is capable of attracting hundreds of
thousands of people at one time and has been playing a key role in peace
promotion and youth integration in the country for more than two decades, the
Somali Football Federation President Abdiqani Said Arab sent a strong message
to the United Nations requesting the world body to pay much attention to
football which has so far been used as an element of peace building and yielded
positive results.
"This world peace event is the start for the cooperation
between the United Nations and Somali Football Federation and we will continue
working on peace together” President Abdiqani Said Arab said before handing
over the microphone to the top UN official in Somalia.
Having a very cheerful atmosphere, the UN representative
Nicholas Kay started his speech with greetings in Somali language saying ‘Galab
wanaagsan’ which means ‘good afternoon’ in English.
"It is very great pleasure for me to be here today. This
is one of my happiest and best days in Somalia to come and see young people playing
football in a soccer facility here in Mogadishu. For me this is something very
special and thank you for inviting me” the UN official explained.
"I think there are two reasons for holding today’s match.
The first reason is that this is the month of peace in the world and the 21stof September is the international peace day and today the trophy they are
playing for is the peace trophy. Somalia is one country which is now beginning to
enjoy peace and it needs more and more peace” Mr. Kay said adding that the
second reason was to share the pleasure and the world peace observation with
Somali youth.
"We are now four years away from 2018 FIFA world cup and
my real wish is that in 2018 we will see some of these players playing in the
world cup and we will be cheering you all the way to Russia” he added.
"Thank you very much for inviting me and next time we
will come here with a team from the United Nations to have a friendly match
against Somali Football federation officials” the UN special representative for
Somalia concluded his speech at the world peace event in Mogadishu on Sunday.
However, Banadir sports club defeated Elman FC in
penalties after the 90-minute period it takes to play a football match ended in
2-2 draw.
Somali Football Federation Media Department
Email:somalifootballmedia@gmail.com