'Free Syrian Football League' organized in Turkey

A Turkish football association said it has organized a football league of 24 teams made up of Syrian refugees in the Turkish southeastern province of Gaziantep.

Under a project announced by the Istikrar Sports Club Association in Gaziantep, a total of 24 football teams were formed with Syrian youth in the province and surroundings. The teams will play in the “Free Syrian League," and the winner of the league tournament will play a friendship match with the Turkish national team.

Hüseyin Rahmi Açıkkol, president of the association, said it runs many projects for Syrian children, from education to music, and added, “But this project aims to support Syrian youths' personalities."

He said sport is a common interest that brings people together from different cultures, languages and regions.

“We launched this project in order to give direction to the Syrian children's future, make them virtuous people, and prepare them for a future in Syria," he explained.

Açıkkol said the first match of the tournament will be played this month. “During the tournament, we will launch a “talent hunt" program to pick the most talented footballers from the teams and form a strong national team," he said.

The project also includes martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Taekwondo and aikido. “We also run basketball games for the Syrian children," he said, “But the most popular game is football."

“For Syrian girl children," he added, “we organize badminton tournaments."

He encouraged everyone to watch the matches and support their social cohesion and adaptation projects.