FAIR PLAY FOR ARMENIA, TURKEY

Fifa.com
Jan 12 2009

The FIFA Fair Play Award for 2008 has gone to the Football Associations
of Armenia and Turkey for their part in encouraging dialogue between
two countries which otherwise do not have any form of diplomatic
relationship.

On 6 September 2008, the President of Turkey, Abdula Gul, spent
eight hours in Yerevan, on the invitation of Armenian President
Serzh Sargsian, in order to attend the two countries’ encounter in
a qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africaâ~D¢.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country was holding the
EU Presidency at the time, dubbed the meeting a "historic and brave
initiative". The visit was also heartily applauded by the international
press, while 70 per cent of the Turkish public expressed their approval
in opinion polls.

As a result, sport, and more specifically football, has helped
alleviate a situation where traditional diplomacy had failed since
1991, the year Armenia gained independence. Indeed, President Gul’s
trip was backed by nearly two-thirds of the Turkish population,
according to a poll carried out by the research centre MetroPOLL, who
found that six out of ten members of the Turkish public were in favour
of re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

As for the match itself, 10,000 fans were in the stands to witness
this historic encounter first-hand. Visitors Turkey came through to
win the game 2-0, but more importantly the match passed by without
crowd trouble.

The Turkish President announced that he did not wish the dispute
between the two nations to be part of his legacy for future
generations. President Gul also invited his Armenian counterpart to
attend the FIFA World Cup qualifying match between the two sides in
Istanbul on 14 October 2009.

It is also worth noting that two other meetings between nations that
do not currently enjoy diplomatic relations took place on 6 September
2008, both of which were also part of the South Africa 2010 preliminary
phase. These were Cuba-United States in the North, Central America
and Caribbean Zone and Sudan-Chad in the African Zone, two further
examples of how decisive a diplomatic role football can play.

The award was presented by UEFA President and FIFA Executive Committee
member Michel Platini and his fellow FIFA Executive Committee member
Senes Erzik.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress