[wzslider]By Harriet Crawford
Yesterday the Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch (formerly Zetra Olympic Hall) was the site of positive, forward-looking activity: a charity football tournament organised by the British Embassy. Teams were made up from the charity Otvorena Mreža (‘Open Network’), the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), the British Embassy and the Irish Guards. Though the two teams from the Irish Guards put up a spirited defence (receiving two yellow cards in the process), they lost both their matches. SIPA came out trumps, beating one of the BiH armed forces teams in the final.
As well as British Ambassador Nigel Casey cheering on the teams, the military elite was out in force to support their troops and the charity. Chief of the Joint Staff Armed Forces BiH, Major General Anto Jeleč, and the Commander of NATO HQ Sarajevo, Brigadier General Walter T. Lord, both presented trophies.
EUFOR Spokesman, Lt Cdr Gareth Jones, highlighted how the competition emphasised the benefits of developing ‘friendship through sport’ among the countries’ armed forces. He continued, ‘looking at the standards of their teams, I can see that Bosnians are passionate about their football. I can see why their team is doing so well at the World Cup Qualifiers at the moment. They are very skilful.
Beyond the military point of the tournament, the purpose was to raise money for Open Network. National celebrity talk-show host and actor, Almira Čehajić Batko, set up the charity to enable life-saving operations for young people from BiH.
