2013 SU Update: Kazan hosts Football Festival

KAZAN – The Republic of Tatarstan is to host a Football Festival from November 29^th to December 2nd.

The event is organized by the Kazan 2013 Executive Committee, Tatarstan’s Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism, Tatarstan’s Ministry of Education and Science and the Physical Culture and Sports Committee of Kazan’s Executive Committee. The festival aims to support Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup bid, to promote the 27th World University Summer Games in Kazan and to popularize a healthy lifestyle.

The Football Festival will be held in two stages. Football classes will be given in Tatarstan’s schools at 12 noon on November 29th and 30th. Schoolchildren will be told about the history of football, football rules, large-scale football tournaments, famous footballers, Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup bid and the 2013 Universiade. Some football classes will be attended by well-known athletes. The republican schools will also host football matches that are scheduled to kick off simultaneously at 11pm on December 1st.

Within the festival the indoor track and fields arena of Kazan’s Central Stadium is to host an unprecedented 2013 minute non-stop football match that starts at 8am on December 1st. The match will bring together squads of Kazan’s universities and institutes, of children and youth sports schools, of the Young Footballers Training Centre and of the Kazan 2013 Executive Committee.

The non-stop football match may enter the Russian Records and Guinness World Records Books in the following categories:
1. Biggest mass football match in Russia, in the world;
2. Longest running football match in Russia, in the world.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Committee)