Soccer fans around the world will now have a day to celebrate the world's most popular sport every year – May 25.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day on May 7, 2024.
The resolution says the day marks the 100th anniversary of the first international soccer tournament in history with the representation of all regions, which took place on May 25, 1924, during the summer Olympic Games held in Paris, according to the resolution.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan says the initiative to recognize the global significance of football and to formally designate it through the adoption of a special resolution by the United Nations General Assembly as “World Football Day” was put forward by Dushanbe Mayor Rustam Emomali, who is also the President of the Tajikistan Football Federation (TFF) and the President of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
Recall, a march of around 10,000 people to support Emomali’s initiative to create a “World Football Day” was organized in Dushanbe in February this year.
The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution by consensus. Media reports say Libya's U.N. Ambassador Taher El-Sonni, who introduced the resolution, told the assembly, “Football is the number one game played and followed around the globe.”
He reportedly stressed that football is more than just a game played by all ages on streets, in villages, schools and courtyards for fun and in competitions.
Because of its “unparalleled position” in the world of sports, El-Sonni said, “Football serves as a universal language spoken across the globe, cutting across national, cultural and socioeconomic barriers.”
