Malala supports football match for ‘peace’ initiative

Christian Karembeu, World Champion Soccer 1998, Honey Thaljieh Captain of Palestine Women National Team, Malala’s cousin, as well as Elias Figueroa and Kashif Siddiqi representing the Football for Peace initiative, supporting Malala’s foundation. (Photo: Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013)

A ‘peace’ football match, launched by Pakistani student activist Malala Yousafzai who was shot by the Taliban while defending the right to women’s education, has been organized for coming September, Saudi-run Television broadcaster Al Arabiya reports.

Kashif Siddiqi, a British-born Pakistani footballer and co-founder of ‘Football for Peace’ which supports supporting Malala’s Foundation, announced that the match will be played between the UAE and Pakistan and is set to kick off on World Peace Day, Sept. 21.

The football match will be dedicated to Malala and its proceeds will go towards funding the foundation in her name, according to the organizers. Malala’s foundation will offer a safe place for girls to study as well as financial support for their families in Pakistan.

The initiative is organized by Kashif Siddiqi in the benefit of Malala’s Foundation. He announced the event at the Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013 held on Apr. 23~24 under the theme “Building sustainable peace through sport. Together.”

Malala, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is still unable to travel due to her injuries. She appeared at the Peace and Sport Forum via a recorded video message.

“Thank you so much, for [the] support of education and equality for girls, through the power of sport, on such a significant day. I look forward to visiting you in Dubai in the very near future and hope to attend the festivities with my family,” she said.

The forum acknowledged sports as a catalyst in bringing peace in the face of adversities around the world.

“Hope for peace still remains as long as sports can meaningfully play a role in bridging the gaps and misunderstandings that exist today. Finding alternative ways to foster peace has become of the outmost importance for governments and international institutions all around the world,” said Joel Bouzou, President and founder of Peace and Sport.

Malala Yousafzai along with Aung San Suu Kyi was selected as ‘Asians of 2012’ by the Asia Journalist Association(AJA). Yousafzai, 16, is a student activist from Pakistan where the Taliban has prevented girls from attending school. Her blog on life under Taliban rule in 2009 made her an instant celebrity, successfully drawing international attention criticizing the Taliban.

Yousafzai was shot in her head and neck in October 2012 in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen. She went through an intensive rehabilitation in the United Kingdom, which motivated former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is now the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, to further the U.N. policy of universal primary education for all children by the end of 2015.

Image made available by her press office of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, as she attends her first day of school on Tuesday March 19, 2013 just weeks after being released from hospital. The 15-year-old participated in lessons at the Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, central England. She survived an assassination attempt by the fundamentalist political group in October last year and underwent hours of surgery in the UK to try and repair the damage caused by a bullet which grazed her brain. <AP Photo/ Malala Press Office>