The Ball 2010

I like to play in the Unified Football events but there is no space for me this time. I try to convince the organizers that I’d be a good addition to one of the two starting line ups but the teams are picked, warmed up and ready to play.

Special Olympics’ banner welcomes The Ball to Togo

Before kick off players on both teams give The Ball a guard of honour to welcome it onto the pitch.

The Ball receives a guard of honour

I take my place in the small crowd assembled for the UNICEF sponsored match. The game unfolds and it is impossible to tell the Special Olympics athletes apart from the rest. All players on both teams are talented footballers and the quality of football is very good. Special Olympics athletes can play football as well as anyone.

The game ends at 1-1 and a penalty shoot-out is needed to separate the teams. The yellow team wins but both teams come together to celebrate as one and to sing and dance together. How often do you get to see that in football?

The winning team wore yellow

Many thanks to our partner the Goethe-Institut for donating some footballs.

What would Goethe have said about this game?

This game was about having fun and about participating and about friendship. Sure, both teams try to win but losing is insignificant. Isn’t this the spirit of football?

Andrew and The Ball are taken to Hotel de Ville (City Hall) where Andrew tells the Mayor of Lomé that he, like anyone else, may sign The Ball but that there is a condition: he must head it or kick it first. The Mayor replies: “I have a head and I have a foot” and proceeds to head and kick The Ball before signing it.

And with no further prompting, save Andrew’s proud smiles, The Mayor continued:

“It is a pleasure and an honour to welcome you and your organisation Spirit of Football to Lomé and to receive The Ball of the World Cup in Lomé. I am honoured that you have chosen the city of Lomé and Togo on your route. The day you have arrived in Togo coincides with a day after the election and just before Easter, it is very good timing as we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Togolese independence. I am wishing you well and I hope that you feel at home in Africa. This ball that has been made in Africa, by Africa and for Africa is an honour for Africa and I wish that an African team will be world champion. But as they say — let the best team win. I wish you a welcome to Togo and as the Mayor of Lomé I am symbolically giving you the key to the city of Lomé so that you can open all doors here.”
— Mayor of Lomé

My first gig alone is a trip with Special Olympics to visit the famous ASEC Mimosas football academy. Stano Claude, National Director of Special Olympics Côte d’Ivoire — and a supporter of ASEC Mimosas — is only too happy to connect me to his club.

Andrew squints in the sun outside the club

ASEC’s youth academy is world famous and has produced some of the greatest footballing talents of the modern era. The 25 would-be footballers, aged between 12 and 17, are given a thorough education, including classes in maths, history, geography, French, English, and Spanish. They live at the academy in dorms from Monday morning until midday on Saturday and they have two football training sessions a day with expert coaches who teach them how to play beautiful football.

We are given a guided tour of the academy by Benoit You, Director of Marketing and Communication who tells us that “it is very important for the players to go home once a week, because here they are in a paradise but it is very dangerous. When they are here every day it is very different from the reality. They can forget where they come from.” These lucky, talented kids are receiving an excellent education and if they don’t make it as footballers they have a very good chance of succeeding in the game of life.

Benoit You of ASEC Mimosas

The club’s first team is the most celebrated and successful in Ivoirian football history and has been utterly dominant in the last 20 years. ASEC’s philosophy is to play the beautiful game with a strong emphasis on passing and to give young players the chance to shine. The average age of the current first team is just 19 years old. The other teams in the professional league are much older (and much more physical) but ASEC is the most successful.

ASEC Mimosas alumni in action

The list of alumni of the ASEC Academy is a testament to the success of this philosophy. It reads like the team sheet of the Ivorian national side as it includes Kolo Touré, Solomon Kalou, Didier Zokora, Yaya Touré, and Emmanuel Eboué — all of whom are now starring in top European clubs like Arsenal and Barcelona. Indeed, ASEC has provided the backbone of the national team for many years.

“We develop them. We give them a chance. This is the philosophy of the club”, says You.

Playing and having fun are part of this philosophy of the football here. If you have have fun on the field you can win games. Try telling that to so many of the aggressive coaches plying their trade around the world. The Ball likes this idea. FUN = Football Unites Nations.

Two sweaty, stinky, happy vagabonds holding a ball (yep, you guessed it, The Ball) are on the back of a moving truck, surrounded by dancing Special Olympics volunteer girls and SO athletes, led by a gendarmerie on a motorcycle, siren blaring away, and followed by 10 bright yellow DHL vehicles. It is a sight for sore eyes…

The cavalcade truck

…and a sound for dancing ears as an excellent DJ is cranking out super tunes on the rather large sound-system on the truck and, as we pass, bystanders are getting into it — dancing and waving. The Special Olympics athletes are absolutely made up. So are we. What a great time. What a great idea! A cavalcade through the streets of Abidjan from street to stadium, from the airport to downtown, from slum to high-rise. This snaking cavalcade of fun has a morning of visits through the streets of Abidjan and a Unified Football event to get to. Let’s go.

Laurent Pokou today…

At our first stop we meet with Côte d’Ivoire’s most famous footballer of all time: Laurent Pokou who is even more famous and highly regarded in Côte d’Ivoire than current Chelsea star Didier Drogba. Pokou was twice the highest goalscorer of the Africa Cup of Nations and was voted the best African player of the twentieth century. He is all smiles as he juggles The Ball with Phil and children. Laurent has paid for the cavalcade. He loves this ball.

…and back in his heyday

We process through 5 of Abidjan’s 10 districts and in each we stop to meet the mayor and various dignitaries for a quick hello and a hand over of footballs and football shirts from SO turning up at an event, where the Minister of Sport is awaiting The Ball. He addresses a large crowd and mentions The Ball as a unifying factor. After he has headed it and signed it we are off again.

Crowds warm to the cavalcade

Crowds love to the cavalcade

Our final destination is a Special Olympics unified football event, where Andrew is a super-sub, coming off the bench to score a cracking left-foot goal. 20 minutes of football later, he collapses in a heap on the ground, unable to move any more in the sweltering heat.

The team Andrew joins…

…and the resulting exhaustion

A few hours kip after that exhausting 46 hour train ride and we’re all set to meet up with Ancilla Smith, Special Olympics Africa’s football project manager, who has been tirelessly organizing their involvement in The Ball’s journey to Johannesburg for the best part of a year and a half.

Ancilla Smith of Special Olympics Africa

She has flown in especially for the Côte d’Ivoire event because it is a premier programme in Africa for Special Olympics. The Ball is only in town for a few days but Charles Takouet and the folks at Special Olympics have put together an amazing schedule which leaves little time for anything else, sleep included. It all starts with a press conference at the Ministry of Sport.

Press conference at the Ministry of Sport

Not being able to speak much French, Andrew leaves the talking to Phil. It’s hard to get across the essence of The Ball in a second language, but thankfully Phil’s explanation of The Ball and its mission seems to impress the Ivoirian journalists.

We are scheduled to play in a Unified Football tournament today. As ever in West Africa, the fearsome heat makes us anxious about taking part. But these events are such fun that it is impossible to stay on the sidelines. So bring on the football, bring on the sweat!

Kids sitting by the Special Olympics banner

Special Olympics athletes are joined by DHL staff and members of the Burkina Faso Football Association including its president and members of the national Burkina Faso Under-17 team, who have competed at the recent Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

A stand shelters spectators from the sun

Being a Liverpool fan, Andrew is very keen to play on the team that is dressed in the Liverpool kit.

The Liverpool team

An open and friendly atmosphere develops as everyone gets to know one another. All the teams play against each other and once more football is the winner.

A game kicks off

Games are played at pace

Some of the Special Olympics athletes who are playing have quite severe disabilities, but they are accepted as players of equal importance to each team.

A child is delighted to hold The Ball

The large crowd of spectators (we estimate around 500 people have turned up) seem to enjoy the games a lot and are very vocal in their support. The post-football celebrations show that making new friendships means that, whatever happens on the pitch, everyone is a winner off the pitch.

Everyone celebrates friendship and football

The Ball arrives in Ouagadougou to find that a meeting has been scheduled with the Minister of Sport, M. Jean-Pierre Palm. The meeting has been arranged by Special Olympics Burkina Faso (SOBF) to welcome The Ball to the country and introduce it to the national authorities.

DHL team, SO BF team, M. Palm and Andrew

We are slowly beginning to understand and appreciate the rituals and formalities of these official events. They are a great opportunity for everyone involved to get to know one another — both personally and professionally — and for a real dialogue and a constructive exchange of views to take place.

Annick Pikbougoum, Director of SOBF, M. Palm, Andrew

When The Ball is passed, whether in the street, on the field or in the boardroom, a connection is made. The Ball feels honoured to meet the Minister and hopes that the dialogue that has been opened will lead to greater opportunities for Special Olympics athletes in Burkina Faso.

Next up is a press conference in association with the Burkina Faso Football Federation (BFFF) at the National Stadium, the Stade du 4-Août. It was very well attended, with a big turnout of representatives from the media.

Signage has been specially made for The Ball’s visit

Andrew presents The Ball alongside Mamabou Benao, Vice President of BFFF

Annick Pikbougoum of SOBF speaks about The Ball, Djibril Gaye, Director of DHL BF on the left

Andrew answers journalists questions about The Ball

Although Burkina Faso have not qualified for the World Cup itself, the press is receptive to the connection with the tournament that The Ball represents. The connection is an unofficial one, but The Ball’s journey is very real. It reminds people that football can be a powerful catalyst in spreading the message of inclusion — and that the programmes that Special Olympics run are the very embodiment of the spirit of the beautiful game.

The bus with Special Olympics day-trippers leaves early with us and Kasim on board. We are heading for the village of Siby and it is a matter of who-knows-what-to-expect. We often turn up in a place and then find out what is planned for us. The mystery, as ever, is intriguing.

The Ball in Siby — too hot for football at 45 degrees in the shade

In Siby’s mayoral compound, drummers and hunters are gathered. At first the drumming is haphazard, but more and more people gather as the drums call folk together. The mayor, village chief and other dignataries arrive. The ceremony takes shape.

The team from Special Olympics Mali with some Siby locals

Phil is introduced to some athletes who have represented Special Olympics Mali. BandongoBu Sidede was a gold medallist in the javelin and won silver in the 800 metres at the Special Olympics Games in Shanghai in 2007. Aged 12, his mother had got him involved with SO Mali and his trainer Sedou looked after his development and accompanied him to the SO games.

Phil with BandongoBu Sidede (l) and Trezeguet (r)

Chairs and benches form a circle. Phil starts to dance. The drummers, all male, are joined by a female singer with a trance-inducing voice.

Hunters with The Ball

Mayoral dignitaries, looking proper, sit on chairs over to one side. The chief of the village and the elders gather on benches under the shade of the finest tree. We’re taking turns filming with the Sony camera from Africa 10. It’s hot, very hot and we’re sweltering getting shots of the scene.

Phil does his whirling dervish impression with a scarf

Phil dances some more and launches several times into spin, a flick of the head first, then dervish trance-style second — to a great reception. He’s invited to continue and a scarf is wrapped and tied around his waist. Gutter spinning and moonwalk. He feels particular affinity to the hunters and is drawn to their engaging smiles. It is they who lead the dances, a wisp of hair is handed to each dancer in turn and ceremoniously returned to a particular elder.

The hunters carry guns and dance with them conga style. Phil is invited to join in. Up he pops, is handed a gun and then off he goes.

A Siby hunter dancing with gun

Then it’s time for the ceremonial speeches. An hour passes. Andrew, still suffering from the cumulative effect of our gruelling itinerary over the last few days, falls asleep time and again. No offense is intended — and none is taken — as Andrew valiantly yet unsuccessfully attempts to fight off the waves of exhaustion.

The Mayor of Siby gives a very, very long speech

Andrew fights sleep as the Mayor speaks

Phil presents The Ball to a rep of Siby Village (m) and Alou Diarra dit Lopez from Special Olympics Mali (r)

All fingers point to The Ball

By now slightly delirious, well watered but wanting something to eat, we head off in a bus to an old meeting place in the crook on an impressive canyon nearby. We are offered rest under a tree while the others go up the hill. Phil asks how far. “One kilometer,” come back the reply. Special Olympics have carefully crafted their plans for us with the intention of looking after our health. But this looks too good to miss.

The Ball and the Special Olympics Mali ensemble at the high point of the hike

Dramane Traore from Special Olympics Mali, the organiser of the Siby visit, kisses The Ball

We can see why the empire of Mali began near here. Like the Grand Canyon, the water-shaped towering pillars and an extraordinary arch frame the plain below. Mostly scrub and brush in what seems to be an exceptionally dry earth. Baked by a dry heat throughout the day, the plain is full of lush green trees, many laden with golden tear drops of mangoes. As Phil scampers across the rocks — to the horror of the Special Olympics staff — he feels he is truly in paradise.

Phil watches the world weather forecast on Matinal, a French TC channel, as we have our breakfast — half a baguette with butter and jam, the Malian standard. “We are in the hottest place in the world again today,” he muses. Driving across Bamako on a Saturday, windows down, Kassoum’s dashboard thermometer indicates 40 degrees. Why the obsession with the heat? We’re heading to the national stadium to play a game of football and we’re anxious, that’s why!

It’s not just any game. This one is with Special Olympics athletes, it is a game of Unified Football where athletes with and without intellectual disabilities play together on mixed teams. Our game is the curtain-raiser to the Malian first division game between FC Djoliba, reigning Malian champions and leaders of the Malian Premier League and visitors FC Duguwolofiila. Unlike the professional game, ours is thankfully only ten minutes each way.

Special Olympics athletes prepare for the game

As we arrive at Mali’s national stadium, the Stade de 26 Mars, the Special Olympics athletes are already getting ready to play in the game of Unified Football. Kits are donned and out we go. After 20 minutes of Unified Football in the punishing 45 degree heat, Andrew is coughing and struggling for breath.

Andrew struggles for breath

The game ends 1-1 and the teams pose for photos, hoping that the game has warmed the hearts of the spectators as much as it has their burning muscles.

The Unified Football teams

As always, people gather round to sign The Ball, whose original inscriptions are now lost beneath the deluge of subsequent signatures.

Signing of The Ball by the Malian SO family

And so to the main event. The teams come out onto the field. Phil and Andrew are asked to pose for photos with the Djoliba and Duguwolofiila captains, the referees and The Ball. However, the officials seem more worried about Andrew’s horn than they do about Phil’s Edna Everage impression.

Captains, officials and The Ball

The Ball and reigning Malian champions FC Djoliba

We watch some of the game from our seats in the dignitaries area but we can’t resist the calling of the music. We drift away and spend most of the match in the stands with the FC Djoliba musicians.

FC Djoliba drummers

Music and football — when these two common languages come together, there’s always fun to be had.

The emblem of the MFF at the entrance to the MFF

Phil has been practising a song about The Ball called “This ball is our ball” based on Woodie Guthrie’s famous tune for the people of the United States: “This land is our land”. He performs it for the first time to a live audience. Malian’s love their music and Phil ain’t half bad. The Ball certainly helps to break the ice at such events and Phil’s music adds to the fun.

But the star of this show was the President of Special Olympics, Mama Garba Tapo who called the press to atttention about the problems facing children with special needs in Mali. He spoke directly to the press: “Without your support, nothing is possible.”

Andrew and the Vice President of the MFF

After several questions from the press about The Ball we talk about the project with the Vice President of the MFF Monsieur Toure. I ask him if we would be able to meet the famous Salif Keita, dubbed “The Black Pearl of Africa” by the press in Valencia. He is one of Africa’s footballing legends and perhaps the first sub-Saharan African footballer to make it big in Europe. Indeed, there is a brilliant french film entitled Le Ballon D’or based on his life. “No problem,” says Monsieur Toure. A meeting with the man himself is organised for the next day.