In 2008, the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) started a development project in the Middle East. The aim of the project is to develop and strengthen the notion of football as a sport for everybody. MFA finances the project, while NFF coordinate it. The project is coordinated in cooperation with the football associations of Iraq, Jordan and Syria.
This year "The Norway-Middle East Girl's Football Festival" will be launched as part of the development project. In addition to girls from Iraq, Jordan and Syria, girls from Iran, Palestine, Lebanon and Norway will also participate at the festival. The festival will be arranged 22-29 November 2009, and the players will be girls between 14 and 16 years old.
The aim for this arrangement will be to develop the participators' football skills. However, development of team spirit and creation of understanding and friendship across borders is an as important goal as the former.
The concept of the festival
The idea is to focus on mutual understanding and strengthening of skills, instead of focusing on the element of competition. The participators (16 girls from each nation) will be divided into eight multinational training teams, in which they will train together. The training teams will be divided into two groups with four teams in each group, and the teams will play each other during the festival. Thus, the girls from different countries will cooperate with each others, live together and have their meals together.
It will also be arranged a development program for coaches and referees during the festival. From each nation two coaches and two referees participate, and these will receive training from Norwegian female instructors. The goal is to train and develop these coaches and referees so they later can train other coaches and referees within their own countries.
NFF is responsible for the festival together with the national football association in Jordan. The head of the festival is Per Ravn Omdal, NFF's responsible for international development projects.
Representatives from NFF at the festival:
Per Ravn Omdal, head of the festival
Gøril Kringen, responsible for the coach program at the festival
Anita Rapp, coach for the Norwegian squad
Monica Knudsen, coach for the Norwegian squad
Bendik Sørvig, NFF's advisor for the Middle East
Shawkat Nomat, NFF's regional project leader in the Middle East
Hans Finstad, project leader for NFF's international development work
Heidi Støre, administrative for the Norwegian squad