While the eyes of the world are focused on Europe’s top stars competing on the pitch at UEFA EURO 2020 in June and July - the Gazprom Football for Friendship programme is giving a group of 144 Young Journalists the opportunity of a lifetime off it.
The delayed 60th anniversary of the tournament taking place across 11 cities in Europe - Amsterdam (Netherlands), Baku (Azerbaijan), Seville (Spain), Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania), Glasgow (Scotland), Copenhagen (Denmark), London (England), Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), St. Petersburg (Russia) - with the semi-finals and final all taking place at Wembley Stadium in London.
And for 144 lucky Young Journalists they are being given the chance to cover the tournament in their home country for the Football for Friendship: Euro 2020 News Bureau and report on the games focusing on the Nine Values of the Football for Friendship programme - which are friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour.
The 144 journalists will be given the opportunity to develop their skills and they will receive lessons that will help them master the skills of mobile journalism which is a current trend in the development of the sports media industry.
The Young Journalists’ work will be supported by professional journalists of the leading media of the cities hosting games. The publications of Young Journalists are being posted in the official accounts of the Football for Friendship Programme as well as local media throughout the tournament.
In order to be committed to their mission, Young Journalists will take a course at the Nine Values School of the Football for Friendship programme. Based on the results of their work, after careful competitive examination, in each country a Young Journalist will be defined to become a participant of the official Best Goal UEFA EURO 2020 award ceremony which will be held in Switzerland or online.
The award for the winner of the best goal is a special trophy provided by Gazprom. To create the Best Goal UEFA EURO 2020 trophy, an art space was made at the stand of Gazprom on Konyushennaya Square in the football village of Euro 2020 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The art space consists of 432 football balls covered by unique calligraphy of Russian artist Pokras Lampas and will include the Nine Values of Football For Friendship as well as the name of the winner coded in.
The trophy and a winner’s ball will be given to the footballer who scores the best goal of the season. A three-dimensional hologram of the trophy will be created at the UEFA headquarters in Switzerland and the Best Young Journalists will report the Award ceremony.
