Organized by another young activist Abdi Qani
Khalif Arabey the tournament is due to conclude on the 4th of April,
the same day that the former leaders were killed in a suicide blast in
Mogadishu which was claimed by the Al-Qaeda affiliated Somali militants of
Al-Shabaab.
The 8 participating teams are from the north
and the south of the city which has for over two decades been divided into two parts
each controlled by a hostile clan-based administration.
This time young boys carrying footballs on
their heads have crossed from the south to the north and from the north to the
south of the divided city as football seems to be destroying the city’s green
line.
The tournament inventor Abdi Qani Khalif
Arabey who addressed at the opening ceremony of the competition spoke about the
history of the two men and their commitment to the development of Somali Sports
in their lifetimes.
"The former Olympic committee president was
fully experienced in sport and had spent more than two thirds of his time in
sport---he was a man of huge endurance and dedication and we will remember him.
Likewise the former football federation president was a man of great humanity
he was a business man who spent so much money in sport and as well as he was
more popular in helping the vulnerable people like orphans and IDPs—we really
lost two great volunteers” Abdi Qani Khalif told the young boys during the launching
ceremony of the tournament On Sunday.
"I don’t know what I can really describe our
slain football Federation Boss, he was a man who worked like the global
organization ‘UN’ we remember his past activities including the regional
football tournament for peace and development held in Garowe in 2010, a competition
which gathered 15 regions across the country and helped the integration of
people segregated by warlords for nearly two decades” Abdi Qani Khalif Arabey
told the young boys.
Tears of agony fell down on the cheeks of the
teenage boys when they heard about the history of the two men who spent much in
the development of Somali Sports.
"Destroying
a green line is not an easy job, I remember in 1993 when warlords were firing
at us, as we were crossing the borders of the green line in Mogadishu—now the
children are doing what we have learned from the past history and I am sure
they will win in the attempts and we are supporting them in such fruitful
endeavour” Somali Football Federation Secretary General Abdi Qani Said Arab
said in a statement Monday.
"In one way the young boys are remembering
the slain sporting volunteers and in the other way they are following behind
the footsteps of the former leaders who successfully destroyed Mogadishu’s green
line with the RESTORE HOPE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT in 1993” the SFF secretary
General’s press statement emphasized.
The secretary General urged all youth groups in regions across the country to do such integration competitions adding that Somali Football Federation was ready to help them. He praised the young boys in Galkayo for the tangible initiative.
Somali Football Federation Media Department
Email:somalifootballmedia@gmail.com