FORMER Arsenal stars Steve Bould and Paul Davis were at Douglas Eyre Sports Centre in Walthamstow on Monday night to hand out the medals to the winning team of the Nations Football Festival Summer League, a two-month competition for London's Refugee Community.
In an exciting climax to a tournament which was launched by Chingford MP Iain Duncan Smith on the lawns of the House of Commons, a team from Mogadishu won 3-1 in the final against a side from Tanganyika.
Organised by the London Playing Fields Society and supported by among others the Football Foundation and Refugee Council, the festival aimed to break down barriers to participation, providing the 16 refugee teams involved with training, education and football.
Alex Welsh, a representative of the London Playing Fields Society, said: "Once again the Nations Football Festival has demonstrated the power of football in drawing disparate communities together and uniting them under the banner of friendship through football."
Football Foundation Chief Executive, Peter Lee, welcomed the culmination of another successful event by adding: "The Nations Football Festival has gone from strength to strength and underlines the beneficial aspects for communities that the game has to offer.
"Our congratulations go to the LPFS and the Refugee Council for all their hard work in making this years event such a success." Nations unite for footy
July 11, 2002 12:30
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