Armenia and Turkey win FIFA Fair Play Award Tuesday 13 January 2009
Executive Office
The national football associations of Armenia and Turkey have received
the 2008 FIFA Fair Play Award for their part in encouraging dialogue
between two countries which otherwise do not have any form of
diplomatic relationship. The presentation took place at the 2008 FIFA
World Player Gala in Zurich on Monday.
Historic initiative
On 6 September last year, the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül,
travelled to the Armenian capital Yerevan on the invitation of
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan to attend the FIFA World Cup
qualifying Group 5 match between the two countries. French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country held the EU presidency at the time,
dubbed the meeting a historic and brave initiative. The visit was also
welcomed by the international press, while the great majority of the
Turkish public expressed their approval in opinion polls.
‘Message of hope’
"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," FIFA said in a
statement. "[Armenia and Turkey] have provided an extraordinary
example of the power of sport’s spirit, and have sent out a
considerable message of hope in a region which has a great need of
such messages," said UEFA President Michel Platini after the match in
September
Return invitation
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 Gül has also invited his Armenian counterpart
to attend the FIFA World Cup qualifying match between the two sides in
Istanbul on 14 October.
Palestinian presentation
At the FIFA gala, Mr Platini joined FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter
in presenting the first Development Award to the Palestinian Football
Association for the construction of the Al-Husseini stadium in Al-Ram,
the country’s first international-class stadium. This enabled
Palestine to host their first home international on their own soil
against Jordan in October 2008.