No Mas Violencia made its way across the ocean to the Middle East.
Because soccer is a world language, the doors opened for a team of seven to team up with five Emirate players and compete against the University of Sohar in the country of Oman. The exchange was amazing!
The opportunity to build relationships with people from two different countries is creating a platform on which more of these games can take place.
On one of the days we toured Al Ain FC, a first division professional team. The visit was a tremendous experience that allowed us to take pictures of the inside of the locker rooms, press room, the VIP area where the Sheiks view the games. We had such a great visit that we returned and presented gifts to two individuals in the front office. The gifts were two No More Violence T-shirts. When we presented them, we also showed pictures of the same T-shirts being used by professional players entering a stadium in Argentina. After seeing the picture, the gentleman said “regardless of our political or religious differences all of us must work for peace.”
The More than Conquerors Museum made its way to Emirates also. The collection of team jerseys and framed pictures helped us break the ice with other soccer fans. The jerseys from well known teams from around the world with player autographs provided a topic of conversation that provided positive interaction.
We look forward to more experiences like this to provide soccer players the opportunity to build cross cultural relationships that will serve to learn more about the peoples of the world.