Oleguer damsformer central FC Barcelonahas been linked to the Barca club again for a good cause. Sabadell's, who always showed his concern for social causes, leads a project that seeks to promote coexistence in the north and east of Syria and in the Iraqi Kurdistan through football.
Oleguer, teaching in the conflict zone
Under the title Hope League It starts a pioneer initiative that puts football at the service of peace in a region marked by war. Jointly driven by the Barça Foundation, La Barracks, The Novact Institute of Nonviolence, UPP, DOZ International, Idare and Casa Nostra Casa Casathe project uses sport as a tool for social transformation into two key regions: the Kurdistán Iraqi and the northeast of Syria.
The main objective is to promote social cohesion and prevent future violent conflicts and radicalization processes between new generations -with special attention to daughters and sons of victims of Islamic state- through community soccer schools that foster the culture of peace, dialogue and coexistence. This initiative seeks to deactivate hatred and violence narratives before they root, offering positive identity and belonging alternatives. He emphasizes the empowerment of girls, boys and adolescents, especially girls and groups and exclusion situation, such as displaced people or refugees, inhabitants of rural areas or ethnic minorities.
Raqqa stadium
“They are absolutely destroyed cities, the fact that people are linked to Barça and the Barça foundation for them is an incredible pride and the reception we had was very good,” he explained Oleguer in statements to TV3.
In a first joint stay held in April 2025 in Syria e Irakthe former player of the FC Barcelona and member of The Barracks, Oleguer Takendirected several training sessions aimed at future training teams of community football schools. These meetings have served to share pedagogical methodologies, reinforce the educational role of sport and establish the common bases for the deployment of the project.
Image of a child with the Barça shirt and a ball
As of June 25, 2025 and until October 2026, the groups will participate in regular schools and in two great meetings of all schools, scheduled for the beginning of 2026.
Some of the courses trainers
More than football: research, training and incidence
The Hope League moves away from any competitive approach to sport and promotes a cooperative practice that promotes values such as teamwork and collective, with the aim that they extend beyond the pitch.
The project is divided into three large lines of action:
1. Research and development of an innovative intervention model in peace and sport, based and the Methodologies of the Caserna and the Sportnet of the Barça Foundation.
2. Training of trainers and strengthening of the local associative fabric for the construction of peace, with a gender approach.
3. Implementation of community actions in soccer schools that can self -managed and do not depend on future international financing, and that become spaces of collective resilience.
A model under construction, with a vocation for the future
Dropping organizations understand this project as a pilot test, which will be subject to monitoring, evaluation and continuous learning. The community football model that will be put into practice will be adapted to the context and local needs, with the aim of becoming a replicable methodology in other areas of the world where it is necessary to reconstruct the social fabric and promote coexistence. Hope League wants to be a seed and laboratory of a sports model that puts the values and strength of community life in the center.
Inclusive and representative participation
The project provides for the direct participation of more than 600 girls, boys and young people (from 8 to 14 years old), with criteria of gender parity, ethnic representation and inclusion of refugees and rural areas, who will meet every week to play football. The registration process in schools combines open registration with actions directed to guarantee the participation of the most vulnerable groups.
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This project is possible thanks to the financing of the Catalan Development Cooperation Agency, which has opted for an innovative peace construction model based on sports and community life. It also has the voluntary involvement of various agents committed to the promotion of global justice, coexistence and human rights.
