Based on the plan of the educational programs of the Delta Cultura Educational Centre, the Center held a Football3 Tournament, which began on Thursday, 09/30/2014, and ended on Thursday, 27/11/2014, marked by two classic finals in both the morning and afternoon period.
Football3 is about promoting the fair-play spirit as the most important element in a football match. Thus, different from ordinary football we know, the Football3 is a game with “three halves”:
- Pre-Match Discussion: before each match, the teams meet to discuss how they want to play the game and match specific rules they want to use in the game.
- The Match: during the match, the players themselves are responsible for playing by the rules combined. Disagreements are resolved through dialogue: no referees!
- Post-Match Discussion: after the match, the teams meet again and discuss the extent to which think the match was played fair, deciding on additional fair play points for each team.
Throughout these “three halves”, the discussions between the teams are assisted by mediators, helping the players to reach an agreement through dialogue. The Delegation Coordinators are not allowed to actively participate in the discussions.
The game consists of some pre-defined basic rules, and also some technical rules that are agreed upon between the two teams, as well as the fair-play rules too.
Regarding the tournament itself, highlighted were the four teams qualified for the finals.
In the morning, the final was played between the team called “Victoriosos” and the team called “Arsenal”. Regarding the game itself, the game was played well on both sides, with the scores of a draw. However there was the third part of the game, which consisted in the attribution of the fair-play points, and the result was no different as both teams, in mutual agreement, earmarked 3 points to one another supported by the excellent performance of both teams with regard to compliance with the fair play-rules in the game. Thus, the marking of penalties was used to decide the winner, and the “Arsenal” team turned out to consecrate the winner in the penalty kicks.
In the afternoon, the final was played between the team “Solidários” and the “Justos” team. The game itself had exactly the same outcome of what happened in the morning, not diverging at all. Only this time, “Justos” was winning team after the penalty kicks.
In the end, the satisfaction was evident and contagious in the face of all present. Not beucase of goals, dribbles or display of the teams, but because of the great spirit of solidarity, respect, tolerance and shared grown in all instances by the teams. It has been shown that football goes much further than just a competition between teams. Football is a stage where the teams fraternize praising the spirit of fair-play and proving that the dialogue is a key element for football success.
Delta Cultura Educational Center will continue to promote Football3 within the tarrafalense community founded on the belief that the world of football will be much more rewarding if people understand the true concept of fair-play and its commitment to a more just society.
Check out the environment in which they lived the finals through the following photos and videos:
