Officials take to the field in ‘score for democracy’ friendly football match

AMMAN — Dozens of participants “from all spectrums of democracy stakeholders” gathered on Saturday to participate in the “Score for Democracy” event organised by the European Union (EU), which took place in Amman Football Club.

Players were divided into six teams: the EU team, the Independent Election Commission team, the Media team, the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs (MPPA) team, the Civil Society Organisations team, the House of Representatives team, in addition to members of the Jordan’s women national team.

In his opening remarks, Firas Adwan, Secretary General of the House of Representatives, extended his gratitude to the EU delegation in Jordan for organising the event, which aims at “supporting democracy in Jordan” on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, which was marked on Friday.

Deputising for the Minister of MPPA, Musa Maaytah, Ali Khawaldeh said: “Football is a global sport that we all share. Football and democracy share the same values as they both encourage us to accept the other and to accept defeat and victory equally.”

“I believe sport is an important tool to encourage democratic values such as tolerance, equity and justice,” Khawaldeh stated.

Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation, Ibrahim Laafia thanked all participants for celebrating the International Day of Democracy and highlighted the importance of including all democracy stakeholders in the event.

Disregarding the hot weather, players took to the field in a friendly atmosphere, demonstrating great team work and sportsmanship between winners and losers. 

The event came as part of the delegation’s celebration of their recently launched programme “Enhanced Support to Democratic Governance in Jordan” achievements on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, marked annually on September 15.

Launched with the aim of “supporting Jordan’s reform process towards consolidation of deep democracy and to promote inclusiveness of policy and decision-making process”, the 17.7 million-euro programme is funded by the EU and the government of Spain, and implemented by a consortium led by the European Centre for Electoral Support, according to an EU statement.