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The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball travels from London to Brazil helping to promote Special Olympics and other inspiring causes. Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

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The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball - football's Olympic Torch - helping causes en route to the World Cup

The Ball travels from London to Brazil helping to promote Special Olympics and other inspiring causes. Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

The Ball travels from London to Brazil helping to promote Special Olympics and other inspiring causes. Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

The Ball travels from London to Brazil helping to promote Special Olympics and other inspiring causes. Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

The Ball travels from London to Brazil helping to promote Special Olympics and other inspiring causes. Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

Fernando Godoy
Fernando Godoy
Fernando Godoy
Fernando Godoy
1 Campaign |
São Paulo, Brazil
$4,361 USD 182 backers
14% of $30,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

Football's Olympics TorchThe Ball is football’s equivalent to the Olympic Torch. As it has done every four years since 2002, The Ball will kick off in January from Battersea Park in London, the birthplace of modern football, and make its way by land, sea and air to the World Cup in Brazil.

Along the way, the “Spirit of Football” team participates in education, fundraising, advocacy, press and PR activities for inspiring causes. Tens of thousands of people come in contact with The Ball and sign it along its journey. By the time it reaches Brazil, The Ball will be the most–autographed ball in the history of the sport.

“It’s an honour to sign The Ball.”
— Pat Nevin, former Chelsea & Scotland captain

The Ball in the Media

FIFA.comCNNBBC SportBBC Radio 4Sky NewsThe Guardian

Where will The Ball be going?

The Ball 2014 will travel from London, England to São Paulo, Brazil, overland as far as possible. The map below shows the proposed route.

The Route to Brazil

The Ball will be visiting a whole host of cities including: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Dortmund, Erfurt, Munich, Milan, Turin, Lyon, Barcelona, Madrid, Porto, Lisbon, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Notre Dame, Chicago, Springfield, St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, Hays, Denver, Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco, Carmel/St Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, Puerto Peñasco, Hermosillo, Monterrey, San Luis Potosí, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Guatemala City, San Salvador, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Managua, Masaya, Granada, Jinotepe, Nandaime, Liberia, Alajuela, San Jose, Panama City, Cartagena, Monteria, Medellín, Bogotá, Cali, Pasto, Quito, Quevedo, Guayaquil, Tumbes, Sullana, Piura, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Chimbote, Huaraz, Huánuco, Lima, Chuyayacu, Arequipa, La Paz, Oruro, Pica, Antofagasta, Chañaral, Copiapó, La Serena, Valparaiso, Santiago, Mendoza, Córdoba, Rosario, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Minas, Treinta y Tres, Melo, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Salvador, Recife, Natal, Fortaleza, Manaus, Cuiabá, Rio de Janeiro.


Why you should contribute!

Help us promote our Partners

Your contribution supports Spirit of Football, a not-for-profit network with hubs in England, Germany and Brazil, and its 2014 partners:

  • The Ball is for everyoneSpecial Olympics build communities for the 200 million people with intellectual disabilities around the world — and their families as well. Their goal is to awaken everyone — and every community — to each person’s common humanity.
  • Pintando a Libertade workshopPintando a Liberdade enables the rehabilitation of inmates of the prison system in Brazil through the manufacture of sports equipment. Detainees get a day of remission for every three days they work and receive a salary that helps support their family too.
  • A freestyler amazes in MoroccoFreestyle Football Federation promotes sport as a natural approach to developing skill, staying fit and being healthy to young people all over the world. They also represent some unbelievable freestylers who will thrill The Ball’s audiences.

Your sponsorship will help promote these organisations and get their message of inclusion and respect on to the agendas of national and international decision-makers. You will give them the ability to make news headlines and showcase their work all the way from London to Rio de Janeiro in workshops and schools in the 25 countries en route.

“We are very happy that young people thought of this idea of taking The Ball around Africa. It makes us all feel part of the game. We have cancelled all of the things before and after your visit. All of my ministers are here with many things to do. But we thought that it was so important, that we must attend to this.”
— President Rupiah Banda of Zambia in 2010

Help us develop our Education Programmes

Your support will help Spirit of Football implement our innovative and engaging “Global Learning” education programmes in two ways:

  • En route, The Ball relays positive social messages at schools and stadiums through storytelling, video, slideshows and physical activity.
  • Ongoing programmes are running in schools around Europe and communities in Brazil. The core theme is “Fair Play”, as told through The Ball, its journeys and the communities supports.

Help us fight for equality, education and tolerance in Germany, Brazil and around the world.


Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas, Dani Alves and Gerard Piqué support The Ball

Alex Song signs a replica of The BallCesc Fabregas signs a replica of The BallDani Alves signs a replica of The BallGerard Piqué signs a replica of The Ball

You can join them and help us keep the legend of The Ball rolling!

FC Barcelona, Catalunya SC Corinthians Paulista, Brazil Aris FC, Greece

New Model Army

EXCLUSIVE: grab yourself a copy of New Model Army’s “Beautiful Game”

New Model Army have recorded a fantastic song called “Beautiful Game” and dedicated it to The Ball.

“I love the idea that with a football at your feet, you can go around the world and make friends and communities wherever you go because it is the world's game. Donate as much a you can to this because the way that football unites people.”
— Justin Sullivan, New Model Army singer

Contribute to our campaign and on 9th January 2014 you will be sent a link from where you can download this song and access the “Beautiful Game” music video. Claim your perk and order your copy now!

You will be supporting…

For the 2014 journey, Spirit of Football (a network of not-for-profit organisations with hubs in England, Germany and Brazil) have teamed up with the following partners.

Pintando a Liberdade

The Ball 2014

Spirit of Football have chosen a very special ball to become The Ball 2014. It will be a ball made by prisoners in a rehabilitation programme called Pintando a Liberdade, based in the Franco da Rocha penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil. Inmates get a day of remission for every three days they work and receive a salary that helps support their family too. Watch the video below to learn more and see the impact this partnership is having on the lives of the prisoners.

Find out more about Pintando a Liberdade →


Special Olympics

“The eye of the world has now turned for a moment to the pitches of Special Olympics football: to their hearts, to their eyes, to their minds, to their skills, to their abilities, to the joy they bring to this sport, to the joy that they can also bring to their communities every day. The Ball helped us tell that story.”
— Tim Shriver, Chairman & CEO, Special Olympics

In Latin America, we will be working with Special Olympics to raise public awareness of their Unified Football initiative, bringing people with and without intellectual disabilities together in communities of tolerance and inclusion.

The Ball teachesThe Ball is lovedThe Ball is hereThe Ball is revered

We make sure that people with special needs are very publicly seen to be included in sport without prejudice. In 2010, the events were publicised internationally and were attended by political leaders who pledged their support on national TV. Watch the video below for an overview of what we achieved in 2010 together…

Special Olympics was able to connect with local communities in an unprecedented way and kick-start their African football initiative. Your support will ensure The Ball becomes an even more effective ambassador in 2014.

Find out more about Special Olympics →


Freestyle Football Federation

We will be teaming up with freestylers to raise participation in all forms of freestyle and street football, supporting the aims and values of the Freestyle Football Federation.

The Freestyle Football Federation promotes sport as a natural approach to developing skill, staying fit and being healthy to young people all over the world. The Ball will be encouraging and echoing this message wherever it goes.

Find out more about Freestyle Football Federation →


Education en route

The Ball takes an active role in relaying positive social messages at events held at venues such as schools and stadiums. We have developed an entertaining and educational programme, honed through practice during the 2010 journey. It features storytelling, video, slideshows and physical activity and is led by the team travelling with The Ball.

During the 2010 journey, The Ball visited schools where thousands of children kicked, headed and signed it and learned about the Spirit of Football. In South Africa, we led workshops for children from 50 different schools across Sub–Saharan Africa.

Everyone wants to sign The BallEveryone gets The BallChildren love The BallThe Ball at a school in Lilongwe

The success of these workshops, and the enthusiasm that welcomed The Ball all along each World Cup journey, led us to develop an education programme themed around the phrase given to us by Special Olympics — “One Ball, One World.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of showing the wonderful 2002 5-minute film ‘Spirit of Football’ to countless schools and football clubs over the past 10 years. I can’t recommend and praise these guys highly enough for their efforts and ethos… Anyone who can kick a ball all the way from Battersea Park to Japan / South Korea / Germany and South Africa and share their joy and hopes for peace along the way deserves incredible respect.”
— Crispin Thomas, Football Poets

Ongoing Education Programme

The journey of The Ball enables Spirit of Football to generate content for our education programmes in the favelas of Brazil and to fight for equality, education and tolerance in Germany, Brazil and around the world. Central to this is the playing of “Fair Play Football”.

The Ball at a school in Botswana

Fair Play Football encourages a spirit of collaboration so that all players are treated with respect. Before each game, the teams agree to play under Spirit of Football’s fair play rules. They then create their own motto, team name and chant. The game is played so that there are as many points awarded for sportsmanship as for winning. After each match, both teams come together and talk about the game, with guidance from a Spirit of Football mentor.

The children develop self-awareness through a better understanding of fairness in the game and beyond. They learn to be positive with each other, to be honest, to encourage one another and the opposition and that winning is not the most important objective.

In this way, Spirit of Football takes football back to its roots but also relates football to the modern world - one in which fair play and respect should not only be a part of every game but a way of life.


Education in Brazil

In Brazil we have been running our educational program since May 2012. We chose to work in Heliópolis, the biggest underprivileged community in São Paulo state. Heliópolis has 200,000 inhabitants, 51% of whom are children and young people under 25. We have kicked off our programme of workshops by reaching 800 children with digital, social and sport inclusion, social events, workshops about Spirit of Football and The Ball as well as donations of clothes and toys.

In 2014, we will be founding the Spirit of Football Futsal Team, where 45 children, trained by specialist teachers, will be representing the Spirit of Football in championships. After the The Ball 2014 journey, an education programme will be rolled out for the children in Heliópolis, focusing on the experiences and stories of The Ball with the objective of showing the power of football to overcome difficulties around the world.


Education in Europe

Over the last two years, more than 2000 children in 4 European countries (Germany, Greece, Poland and Ukraine) have participated in Spirit of Football’s educational programme. We have held over 20 projects at all levels from kindergarden, primary, intermediate to high schools and grammar schools.

The core of the curriculum is “Global Learning” through the theme of “One Ball, One World.”. We run an interactive programme consisting of football, video, music, photos, improvisation theatre, travelogues, and crafts. Children learn about different living situations in the countries The Ball has visited and are introduced to important social messages of fair play, respect, co–operation, participation and integration.

FC Barcelona endorse The Ball

FC Barcelona’s first team players signed a replica of The Ball. This ball is now used to inspire and motivate children in Brazil’s favelas. Watch what the players have to say…

How did it all begin?

In 1998, Phil, Christian and Richard went to the World Cup in France and were captivated by the music and spirit of the fans they encountered. Four years later in 2002, two of them set off with a ball from Battersea Park in London, the birthplace of modern rules football. They travelled 8,000 miles with a replica of the official adidas World Cup ball, going overland, on foot, by bus, or train (and very occasionally by plane) across Central and Eastern Europe into Asia to reach their final destination, the World Cup finals in Korea.

On the way they met and played football with grassroots fans from Tibetan Monks high in the mountains of China, to street urchins in the turbulent region of Kyrgyzstan. They wrote and produced one of the very first videoblogs en route. This epic journey was featured on the BBC, CNN, Sky as well as many national newspapers, and the friends began to realise that their ball was in fact “The Ball.”

The intervening years have seen the project grow beyond its humble roots — there are now organisations in three countries dedicated to sharing the positive social messages that The Ball represents.

Help us sustain and develop this community.

A Big Thank You!

If you’ve got this far, thank you for your time and attention! We hope you like what you see. We know your contribution will make a huge difference to the people who have most to gain from The Ball’s journey - football’s 99.9% - the grassroots players of every class, creed, race and ability.

Sunset game with The Ball

One Ball, One World

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Choose your Perk

featured

New Model Army Beautiful Game

$5 USD
An exclusive chance to get your hands on New Model Army's cracking new song “Beautiful Game” recorded especially for Spirit of Football. “Donate as much a you can to this because of the way that football unites people.” — Justin Sullivan, NMA lead singer On 9th January, you will be sent a link from where you can download this fantastic song and access the “Beautiful Game” music video.
Estimated Shipping
January 2014
144 claimed

BE A FAN

$20 USD
You're great and we thank you! We'll add our thanks to you (or someone you nominate) on our website. You also get the “Beautiful Game” song.
10 claimed

BE A SUPPORTER

$50 USD
You're amazing and we love you! We'll keep you in the loop on all our developments with an exclusive newsletter. You'll also BE A FAN.
3 claimed

BE A BELIEVER

$100 USD
You believe in the project and we adore you! We'll answer any questions you may have (unless they're too personal, of course!) and we'll be your best friends forever. You'll also BE A SUPPORTER.
11 claimed

Replica Ball funds a Workshop

$500 USD
You get a replica of The Ball signed by the children who take part in the workshop. You also get a warm fuzzy feeling from having funded a workshop for underprivileged children in Brazil.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
3 out of 100 of claimed

Sponsor a Country

$1,000 USD
Sponsor the amazing journey of The Ball as it travels through a country of your choice. We'll mention your support at every event and in all media appearances and we'll make an exclusive video for you and show it on our website and videoblog. Excludes Brazil.
0 claimed

Sponsor The Ball in Brazil

$5,000 USD
Sponsor the amazing journey of The Ball as it travels through Brazil during the World Cup. We'll mention your support at every event and in all media appearances and we'll make an exclusive video for you and show it on our website and videoblog.
0 claimed

The Ball is Yours

$1,000,000 USD
The most signed and revered football on the planet should also be the most expensive. For a cool $1m, you can own a piece of history and a legend - The Ball 2014. You will also secure the legend of The Ball far into the future and be a hero of epic stature. Fair play terms and conditions apply.
Estimated Shipping
July 2014
0 out of 1 of claimed
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