News Center- The Barça Foundation, La Caserna, the NOVACT Institute for Nonviolence, UPP, Doz International, IDare and Casa Nostra Casa Vostra have launched the “Hope League” project in Iraqi Kurdistan and North and East Syria.

“The main goal is to promote social cohesion and prevent future violent conflicts and radicalization processes among new generations —with special attention to the sons and daughters of victims of the Islamic State— through community football schools that promote a culture of peace dialogue, and coexistence,” said a statement released on the official website of the Batça Foundation.

According to the statement, the first joint mission carried out in April 2025 in Syria and Iraq as part of the project and Oleguer Presas, former FC Barcelona player and member of La Caserna, led several training sessions for the future coaching teams of the community football schools. “These sessions served to share pedagogical methodologies, reinforce the educational role of sport, and lay the common foundations for the rollout of the project.”

The Hope League will run from June 2025 to October 2026 in Kobanê, Hasakah, Raqqa and Tirbespîyê, northeastern Syria, and Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan.  From June 25, 2025 to October 2026, the participating groups will attend regular football school sessions and take part in two large gatherings planned for early 2026.

Direct participation of over 600 children and young people

“More than football: research, training, and advocacy,” said the statement, indicating that the project envisions the direct participation of over 600 children and young people (ages 8 to 14), with criteria ensuring gender parity, ethnic diversity, and inclusion of refugees and rural populations, who will gather weekly to play football.