Addis Ababa Stadium marks International Sports Day
The International Sport Day, a UN-mandated international day of sports for peace and development, will be celebrated in Ethiopia for the second time today at the Addis Ababa stadium through different sports activities, a press release the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) sent to The Reporter said.
Originally, the UN General Assembly passed the resolution in 2013 to celebrate April 6 as International Sport Day. Last year, the day was celebrated globally for the first time, with the EFF in collaboration with the Ethio-Germany longtime football project at the National Stadium.
The event will be held for the second year in a raw today at the Addis Ababa stadium, where 24 high-raking UN officials, Ambassadors and diplomats, officials of the Sports Commission, EFF officials and guests would be in attendance, according to Wondemkun Alayu EFF PR. And this year as well, EFF is teaming up with Ethio-Germany Football Project to organize the event.
The schedule drafted by EFF also indicates that the event will feature a matchup among three junior male and female football clubs in and around Addis. So far, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Coffee and Saint George FCs were approached by the organizers and with the exception of Saint George all have showed willingness to be part of the celebration. Wondemkun added that three junior female clubs from around Addis would also take part in the sport day matchup.
April 6 is also a date that marked the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. The proclamation of the day as sports day also took into consideration the fact that it is a day of the opining of the modern Olympic Games.
The UN and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have a longstanding commitment to use sport as a tool for social change and have worked together on many projects over the years. Both organizations have used sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, to bring about cultural understanding and to improve education, health, economic and social development.
Source: The Reporter
