Monza, Italy—The 13th Trofeo della Pace (Peace Trophy), an interethnic seven-player football tournament organized by UPF, brought together 100 players from seven teams.
The tournament was held on June 24, 2018, at the Sada Stadium, with a large audience of all ages attending.
The seven teams were:
CMR 50
Atletico XX Settembre
Black United
CPIA Monza
Spallanzaska
UPF Sport for Peace
Corelli Lions of Milan
In the afternoon a special “welcome match" was held between selected players from the tournament and guests of the Corelli Lions, with the latter winning 1 to 0.
At the end of the tournament, the winner of the 2018 Peace Trophy was the Spallanzaska team consisting of young asylum seekers originally from Africa. In second place was the CPIA Monza team, and in third place was CMR50, which was the winning team in 2017.
A special guest at this year’s tournament was Paolo Monelli, a former professional football player who played 167 games in the Series A championship with the Fiorentina Team of Florence. Also present for the final matches and the awards ceremony were Andrea Arbizzoni, minister for sports of the City of Monza; Desirè Chiara Merlini, minister for social policies; Carlo Milva; and Gaetano Galbiati del Fiammamonza; as well as Carlo Zonato, president of UPF-Italy.
The initiative was supported by the City of Monza and the Juvenilia Sports Club, with the permission of the training camp and the Sada Stadium, the Mamma Rita Center in Monza, and the CPIA Permanent Adult Education Center in Monza, while the Italian National Olympic Committee of Lombardy and many municipalities granted patronage.
Among the final matches, a particularly beautiful one saw the CMR50, the youth of the Center Mamma Rita of Monza, supplemented by some friends, winning third place by beating the strong players of the Black United team of Brugherio by a score of 5 to 4. The young striker of the CMR50, Cheikh Diokhane, originally from Senegal, was awarded for being the best player of the tournament.
The final for first place saw the Spallanzaska team prevail against CPIA by a score of 2 to 0, in a game that was tied until the end. The Spallanzaska goalkeeper, the young asylum seeker Adams Mohamed, was awarded the honor of being best goalkeeper.
At the end Mr. Arbizzoni, the minister for sports, thanked the organizers for this 13th edition of the Peace Trophy, an initiative reputed as one of the best in the Brianza area, of Lombardy for its mix of sport, youth and integration. Carlo Chierico, president of UPF-Monza and the soul of the tournament, confirmed that the paths to peace carried out by UPF are well highlighted by this interethnic tournament, which reflects the values of UPF founders Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.
Meanwhile, the new women's edition of the Peace Trophy already has been officially announced, with the interethnic volleyball tournament to be held in September.