From 30 June to 1 July 2012 Mostar will be hosting this year’s Balkaniade. The Balkaniade is an international youth tournament taking place once a year in the countries of the Western Balkans.

The tournament which aims to foster the youth exchange in the field of sport in the Western Balkans has been initiated by the FARE member organisation Balkan Alpe Adria Project (BAAP) and is being supported by FairPlay-VIDC.

Youth players from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Austria will come together in Mostar to play football, to have fun and to get in touch with each other. Besides Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and other languages, one language is spoken: the language of football and respect!

The tournament is organised by the Football Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Sport Association of the City of Mostar.

Hasan Sisic, president of the Sport Association of the City of Mostar, said
The international tournaments of the Balkaniade are a great opportunity for the kids to get to know each other, awake the spirit of cooperation and tolerance and to realise that differences are enrichment rather than a handicap. Sport always had a connecting character contributing to overcome differences and serving as an ambassador of friendship, peace and tolerance as well as fostering coming together and dialogue.

On 30 June a press conference will take place in Hotel Bristol for athletes, trainers and the international guests. Ljubo Beslic, the Mayor of the City of Mostar, Patrick Gasser (UEFA), Walter Posch (VIDC) and Ivan Anastasovski (Football Federation of FYR of Macedonia) will open the conference. Besides the tournament, an evening event on Saturday, 30 June is planned. A playback-show involving the participating teams and a dancing-show act will be the highlights of the event.

The Balkaniade is part of a three-year-programme (“Football Unites the Balkan, the Alps and the Adriatic”) that connects the football associations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and FYR of Macedonia fostering their partnership with BAAP and FairPlay-VIDC in order to contribute to overcome nationalism and chauvinism in the Western Balkan region. The project is supported by the King Baudouin Foundation and UEFA.

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Date: 30 June + 1 July 2012

Venue: Stadium NK Branitelj Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Participating teams (Under 17):
Gradska Reprezentacija Mostar (BiH)
Nogometni Klub Siroki Brijeg (BiH)
Selekcija AS Novi Pazar (Serbia)
Fudbalski Klub Rabotnicki Skopje (FYR of Macedonia)
Fudbalksi Klub Leotar Trebinje (BiH)
Fudbalski Klub Lovcen Cetinje (Montenegro)
Fudbalski Klub Bokelj Kotor (Montenegro)
Nogometni Klub Vukovar (Croatia)
Sportclub Süßenbrunn (Austria)

Organisation: Sport Association of the City of Mostar, Football Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina