<div align="justify">Budding goalkeeper Sujal Kahar, a 12-year-old football enthusiast from Mumbai, has been shortlisted as India’s representative at the global Football for Friendship (F4F) social programme. <br /><br />The F4F programme, supported by Gazprom and FIFA, focuses on the development of children's football, fostering tolerance and respect for different cultures and nationalities among children from different countries. India joins the programme for the first time and will participate alongside over 60 other countries. Sujal will join Young Footballers from around the world in St. Petersburg, Russia in July 2017.<br /><br />The children will play in eight-player teams, comprising boys and girls aged 12 years old, including those with disabilities, in the Gazprom F4F International Championship. Sujal will also participate in the Fifth Football for Friendship International Children's Forum, which will allow youngsters to discuss with famous footballers and journalists how to promote the programmes’s values around the world. The fifth season of the F4F programme will conclude with a visit by the participating children to the final match of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 at the St. Petersburg Stadium.<br /><br />Sujal is one of 15 members of an underprivileged family and attends a tuition-free government school near his home. He started playing football at the age of 10 and today plays for his school team, Educo Phoenix.<br /><br />India joined the celebrations for the first time this year, where Sujal Kahar was accompanied by former India goal keeper and CEO of Western India Football Association (WIFA) Henry Menezes in an event held at the WIFA Cooperage Grounds. The celebrations, held on the sidelines of the WIFA State Youth Championship that are currently underway in Mumbai, saw participants tie each other the blue-green Friendship bracelet that is a symbol of the Global Day of Football and Friendship.<br /><br />Around the world children, adults, personalities and football enthusiasts gathered in over 60 countries in celebration of the Global Day of Football and Friendship. The day saw a series of events promoting peace, friendship, equality and a healthy lifestyle, held across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. Tens of thousands of children and adults participate in friendly matches, open training sessions, flash mobs, marathons and sport events.<br /><br />The events held in different parts of the world were attended by famous football players, including Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovich and Russian goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin from FC Zenit (St. Petersburg, Russia), Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt from FC Feyenoord (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). In Athens, the event was attended by the winner of the European Football Championship 2004 as part of the national team, Theodoras Zagarakis, who is a member of the European Parliament from Greece.<br /></div>
<div align="justify">Budding goalkeeper Sujal Kahar, a 12-year-old football enthusiast from Mumbai, has been shortlisted as India’s representative at the global Football for Friendship (F4F) social programme. <br /><br />The F4F programme, supported by Gazprom and FIFA, focuses on the development of children's football, fostering tolerance and respect for different cultures and nationalities among children from different countries. India joins the programme for the first time and will participate alongside over 60 other countries. Sujal will join Young Footballers from around the world in St. Petersburg, Russia in July 2017.<br /><br />The children will play in eight-player teams, comprising boys and girls aged 12 years old, including those with disabilities, in the Gazprom F4F International Championship. Sujal will also participate in the Fifth Football for Friendship International Children's Forum, which will allow youngsters to discuss with famous footballers and journalists how to promote the programmes’s values around the world. The fifth season of the F4F programme will conclude with a visit by the participating children to the final match of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 at the St. Petersburg Stadium.<br /><br />Sujal is one of 15 members of an underprivileged family and attends a tuition-free government school near his home. He started playing football at the age of 10 and today plays for his school team, Educo Phoenix.<br /><br />India joined the celebrations for the first time this year, where Sujal Kahar was accompanied by former India goal keeper and CEO of Western India Football Association (WIFA) Henry Menezes in an event held at the WIFA Cooperage Grounds. The celebrations, held on the sidelines of the WIFA State Youth Championship that are currently underway in Mumbai, saw participants tie each other the blue-green Friendship bracelet that is a symbol of the Global Day of Football and Friendship.<br /><br />Around the world children, adults, personalities and football enthusiasts gathered in over 60 countries in celebration of the Global Day of Football and Friendship. The day saw a series of events promoting peace, friendship, equality and a healthy lifestyle, held across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. Tens of thousands of children and adults participate in friendly matches, open training sessions, flash mobs, marathons and sport events.<br /><br />The events held in different parts of the world were attended by famous football players, including Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovich and Russian goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin from FC Zenit (St. Petersburg, Russia), Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt from FC Feyenoord (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). In Athens, the event was attended by the winner of the European Football Championship 2004 as part of the national team, Theodoras Zagarakis, who is a member of the European Parliament from Greece.<br /></div>
