On April 1, 2023, the Lokomotiv indoor football arena in Moscow hosted spring charity mini-football tournament Sports for the Good organized by the Love Syndrome Foundation. The aim of the tournament is to raise funds for educational and developmental programs for people with Down syndrome. Thanks to the support of leading companies, we managed to raise 1,000,000 rubles for good causes.
12 teams took part in the tournament, including Ozon Zabota, Rostelecom PAO, PROGRESS AO, DataRu, Melling, Voitishkin & Partners, VELES Capital Investment Company, SBM Service Center LLC, Moscow School of Management “Skolkovo”, Absolut Boarding School (educational private institution), the Black Hawks team, the team of the Athlete for the Good project, and the team of parents of the wards of the Love Syndrome Foundation.
Tournament newcomers, teams of DataRu, Ozon Zabota, PROGRESS AO, SBM Service Center LLC, Skolkovo School of Management, and Absolut Boarding School, took part in the tournament under the auspices of Sports for the Good for the first time. The companies Rostelecom PAO, Melling, Voitishkin & Partners, VELES Capital Investment Company have been supporting charity programs for people with Down syndrome for several years, and this is not the first time they took part in a corporate tournament. PROGRESS, in addition to participation, provided drinking water for all participants.
By tradition, the grand opening of the tournament began with a formation. Children with Down syndrome who attend football classes of the Love Syndrome Charitable Foundation took the teams out to the field. During the break between the main games, an exhibition match between the captains and the team of children with Down syndrome “Love Syndrome” took place. Friendly game did not leave anyone indifferent.
While the main participants were playing matches, their cheer team represented by children kicked the ball. The organizers offered to play football on a free field together with the Love Syndrome team. The kids had a great time arranging their inclusive teams.
Refereeing on several fields of the tournament was carried out by professional referees: chief referee of the competition, referee of the 1st category of the Russian Futsal Association Mikhail Aisin, referee of the 1st category of the Russian Futsal Association, futsal inspector Sergey Nikitin, referees of the second category Maxim Sobolev, Vladimir Klimov and Javid Farzaliev.
The teams showed excellent physical and emotional state. Goalkeepers cleared the most inconvenient balls away from the goal mouth. The attacking players mercilessly made shots. The defenders held the line stubbornly. The question of the winner remained undetermined to the last. In addition to the main games, the tournament named the best participants in the following nominations: the best defender, the best scorer, the best goalkeeper and the keepie-uppy pro.
The winner of the tournament was the Ozon Zabota team. The second place was taken by the VELES Capital team, the third placed was taken by the Black Hawks. The fight for second and third places was not a joke, their holders were determined only thanks to a penalty shootout.
Sergey Zabrodin, VELES Capital investment company was the best defender, the best scorer was Anatoly Gaborets, the Black Hawks, and the best goalkeeper was Andrey Korzh, PROGRESS AO. Dmitry Fomichev, Rostelecom PAO, was acknowledged as a keepie-uppy pro.
Congratulations and thanks to all teams for participating!
