Activity Report

The Sony group, in a partnership with streetfootballworld, presented a total of 25 stadiums to 7 countries - Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, and also supported the program "football3" which took place in those countries. First of all, on June 4, 2014, three pop-up stadiums designed by a Sony designer were installed in Rio de Janeiro.
More than 2,000 children participated in the educational football workshop "football3" using these stadiums.

"football3" aims to teach participants how to communicate with their friends, teach them that boys and girls are equal, give them a sense of fair play, and give them the skills needed to change society, while they enjoy playing football to their heart's content.
One of the girls, who participated, said: "I don't normally have as much chance to play football as boys do, so I'm very happy I could take part and play the game together!"
Another said: "The experience of deciding our own game rules was not only useful for football - I learned something very valuable for life".

So that people around the world could support this program, an illustration contest for decorating the stadium walls was held on-line, and 12 works were chosen out of 3,500 entries. A presentation of an original stadium design featuring these works was held on July 11, 2014. Rai, a former football player and founder of Gol de Letra, one of the Brazilian NGOs to which stadiums were donated, explained the importance of the stadiums. He said: "Sports has got great power to change not only the individual, but also the environment of whole communities. As long as we have this stadium in various locations, I would like to continue promoting community change using the power of football".

• Thoughts about the Sony design stadium

What is the football workshop "football3"?

football3, which is played in the Street Football Stadiums we have donated, is a program to help children understand various kinds of social issues. Just like football, there's a ball, a pitch, 2 goals and 2 teams, but they decide the rules among them before the match.

football3 helps children grow both physically and mentally.
The rules are decided through discussion between the playing teams before the match.
In order to encourage dialogue among players also during the match, players themselves call fouls by raising their hands, and disputes are resolved among them through discussions.
There is also time set aside for a post-match talk to review the match.

Adults called "mediators" lead the dialogues between the children from a neutral position.
The game is controlled not by the whistle of the referee but by dialogues among the children.

By playing and discussing with each other, the children learn about important things like overcoming problems, leadership, mutual respect, gender equality, fair play, and responsibility for their own actions. This helps to resolve social issues like violence and racial discrimination around the world, and nurture a force that will change the world.