On July 2nd, 1994, Colombian football player Andrés Escobar was killed in his hometown of Medellín for having scored an own goal in the FIFA World Cup.
Jürgen Griesbeck was in Medellín as a guest lecturer at the Universidad de Antioquia at the time. Shocked by the murder, he began to wonder how football, a game based on spirit and fairness, could lead to such extreme violence, and how the passion that football inspired could be used to promote positive attitudes instead.
Fútbol por la Paz
In 1996, Mr. Griesbeck introduced his solution: Fútbol por la Paz (Football for Peace). It was based on the principle that fair play, dialogue and respect were just as important as athletic skill—in Fútbol por la Paz, a game could not be won on goals alone.
In May of that year, Mr. Griesbeck invited criminals and young people from violent neighbourhoods to a football3 tournament in Barrio Antioquia, one of Medellín’s most dangerous areas. Of 16 teams, 10 were made up of armed gangs. Nevertheless, the tournament was a success, even despite many male players’ misgivings about the stipulations that at least two females must be on every team, and that one of them must score their team’s first goal.
The programme quickly succeeded in addressing violence and drugs on the streets of Medellín; the desire to play football and be in a safe space had overcome. Soon after the first tournament, security measures were no longer required. After just one year, 10 000 players on a total of 500 teams were including dialogue in football, united in a game where respect and tolerance were just as important as scoring goals. Fútbol por la Paz was adopted by the Colombian government and continued to grow in the hands of Con-text Urbano, an organisation Mr. Griesbeck founded and headed before his return to Germany.
Straßenfußball für Toleranz
While the concept spread across South America, Jürgen Griesbeck brought football3 to Brandenburg, Germany in 2000, under the name 'Straßenfußball für Toleranz' (Street Football for Tolerance) and with the support of the federal government and the state government of Brandenburg. Here the approach was geared toward disadvantaged young people and those prone to violence in order to encourage them to take a stand against the extreme right of politics. Another success, the Straßenfußball für Toleranz project was handed over to Brandenburgische Sportjugend, now a member of the German Street Football Network, for further development.
Fútbol Callejero
The concept quickly proved to be useful in many different contexts. In South America it spread across the continent under the name of 'Fútbol Callejero' (Street Football). Argentina was one of the first countries to boast a network of organisations that regularly host joint meetings and work on a common agenda of improving communities through Fútbol Callejero. Today, national networks and leagues exist in several South American countries.
football3 in streetfootballworld events
While two-thirds of streetfootballworld network members do not play any form of football3, streetfootballworld itself began to introduce it to a wider audience through two programmes which accompanied the 2006 FIFA World Cup™: World Cup Schools - Fair Play for Fair Life got young people involved in the action by playing their own World Cup tournament, and the streetfootballworld festival 06 brought together teams from around the world to celebrate the positive power of football.
All of streetfootballworld’s events use a form of football3, including EUROSCHOOLS 2008, Foča 08 and 09, and the Football for Hope Festival 2010.
Rwanda, the UK and beyond
football3 has travelled all around the world. Each organisation has adapted rules to fit its specific context, but the idea remains the same: creating a space for development and dialogue to empower young people.
Find out more about football3 around the world here.
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