In light of the recent upheaval surrounding xenophobia in South Africa, with South African’s attacking immigrants from other African countries, puma.peace’s involvement in the Peace One Day initiative creates the perfect opportunity to make a real difference within South Africa and Africa as a whole. The unifying power of football, makes the ideal of One Day One Goal seem a little less distant…

With the help of the PUMA ‘Peace Ball’ (created especially for Peace One Day), Doctor Khumalo, former Bafana Bafana captain, went into the areas most affected by the xenophobic attacks, where feelings of animosity can still be felt. His aim…to score a goal for peace.

puma.peace was there to document the initiative:

In September 2007, PUMA announced a long-term partnership with the British non-profit organization Peace One Day at Peace One Day’s gala hosted at London’s Royal Albert Hall. PUMA’s commitment was based on the organizations’ shared values such as inclusiveness, leadership, passion, and willingness to push boundaries. Filmmaker, Jeremy Gilley began Peace One Day (POD) as a film project to establish an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. In 2001 Peace One Day’s efforts were rewarded when the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence on September 21st—Peace Day.

The first ‘One Day One Goal’ match was initiated during the January 2008 activities in Ghana. Through this collaborative initiative, PUMA and Peace One Day asked people around the world to play football on September 21st, with each match celebrating cooperation, unity and the power of football to bring people together in peace. The aim of the ‘One Day One Goal’ initiative is to encourage people to play football all over the world, whether in major stadiums, local pitches, in the streets, on the beach, in the office, at home… it doesn’t matter. 215 matches took place in countries across the globe in honor of the Day, many supported by PUMA-sponsored club teams and top talent.

“We support the aim of Peace One Day and want to make a contribution to the generation of global peace on one day,” said Jochen Zeitz, PUMA CEO and Chairman, “We are delighted to be a strong and long-term partner of this exemplary initiative.” To help raise visibility and awareness of Peace Day, PUMA launched the PUMA Peace One Day Football Collection, which was unveiled at the African Cup of Nations in January 2008. PUMA’s established relationships with its African football teams ensured this exciting football collection was seen on some of Africa’s leading players throughout the tournament. A portion of the profits generated by the collection were donated to Peace One Day. PUMA’s long-term goal is to source all products related to this collection in Africa.

As a direct result of Peace One Day’s campaign in 2007, parties in Afghanistan recognized Peace Day resulting in 1.4 million Afghanistan children being vaccinated against polio. In the past two years, 100 million people in over 200 countries were engaged in Peace Day activities and in 14 of those countries, efforts were targeted towards providing life-saving activities and medical services on the Day. PUMA has worked alongside Peace One Day since 2007 and has developed a Peace One Day collection of products available in stores in September to benefit the non-profit organization.

Check out the teams and locations where games were played in 2008

In 2009, puma.peace and One Day One Goal saw football games played across the globe:

Afghanistan

Antiga

Armenia football federation

Armenia football federation

Benin

Bosnia

Brazil

Brazil team captains

British Antarctic survey team

British Antarctic survey match

Burkino Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cambodia game

Congo

Congo football match

Croatia

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Ethiopia

Faroes island

Ghana

Haiti

Hungary

Italy

Kenya

Kuwait

Liberia

Liechtenstein

Marshall Islands

Mexico

      

Myanmar

Palau

Paraguay

Peru

 

 

 

 

Phillipines

Seychelles

Slovakia

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Tajikistan

Uganda

England (team 3)

USA -Cugini Girls team

USA-Cugini Boys team

USA, Miami

View footage of the Miami MTV One Day One Goal match: 

South African soccer legend Doc Khumalo is “Ready to Play” in aid of peace. Photo credit Darren Alexander

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder and striker, Surprise Moriri, supports One Day One Goal. Photo credit Darren Alexander

 Lenny Kravitz performing at the Peace One Day concert. Photo credit JP Pariente

On September 19, the Grand Rex Theatre in Paris, packed to capacity, played host to the Peace One Day Concert. Televised by Canal, the concert included a new video on One Day One Goal and puma.peace’s ongoing support of this initiative.

Representatives from both PUMA and adidas were present and sat side by side as Jeremy Gilley, Peace One Day director, announced the PUMA / adidas peace initiative and the funds that it will provide for peace education at schools in Germany and beyond. Well-known French actress Aissa Maiga acted as puma.peace ambassador for the evening explaining to the cheering audience the full scope of puma.peace’s global engagement.

Actress Aissa Maiga as puma.peace Ambassador. Photo credit JP Pariente

An impressive line-up of musicians including Charlie Winston, Ayo, Lenny Kravitz, Kasabian, Olivia Ruiz and Keziah Jones performed live on stage in aid of Peace One Day

Keziah Jones performing at the Peace One Day concert. Photo credit JP Pariente

Ayo performing at the Peace One Day concert. Photo credit JP Pariente

Charlie Winston performing at the Peace One Day concert. Photo credit JP Pariente

It was a historic game against an unusual backdrop: Under the leadership of the two chief executives Herbert Hainer (midfielder) and Jochen Zeitz (goalkeeper), employees of both adidas and PUMA played football together and against each other on Monday, Global Peace Day, in Herzogenaurach. With the support of 700 employees of both groups, the “Black” team of the two CEOs beat the “White” team 7:5 in a fascinating game. In support of the peace initiative PEACE ONE DAY the two sportswear companies sent a fun and unique signal of amicable cooperation. 

Chief Executives: Herbert Hainer (midfielder) and Jochen Zeitz (goalkeeper)

Both teams, which were made up of 40 employees of both competitors as well as a few local journalists, demonstrated their support for PEACE ONE DAY on the premises of the adidas headquarters and proved that sport can help overcome boundaries and promote a peaceful cohabitation. 

„Our joint football match in support of PEACE ONE DAY and Global Peace Day was a unique experience for the participating players and our employees. It showed that  everyone – and companies as well – can make their contribution to peace,” said the two  Chief Executives Jochen Zeitz and Herbert Hainer. “The symbolic handshake of adidas and PUMA helped to raise awareness for Global Peace Day and the necessity for non-violence and ceasefire.”  

Particularly for this memorable football game, adidas and PUMA had created a football kit in black and white that sported adidas’ three stipe logo as well as PUMA’s leaping cat. The kit is part of a limited collection of 80 pieces, that will be auctioned for PEACE ONE DAY.

Football celebrity Alexander Hleb, player of German premier league club VfB Stuttgart and captain of the Belarus national team, supported the initiative by signing autographs and giving PEACE ONE DAY footballs to the fans onsite.   

Following the match adidas and PUMA employees went together to PUMA’s Brand Center in Nuremberg to watch the movie „The Day after Peace“ by British actor and director Jeremy Gilley.  

 Last weekend, both companies had already taken the message and idea of PEACE ONE DAY into the football stadiums of Munich and Stuttgart. During the halftimes of the German premier league games FC Bayern Munich - 1. FC Nuremberg and VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Cologne adidas and PUMA employees took part in a penalty shoot out with former premier league goalkeeper Walter Junghans and shared PEACE ONE DAY ball with the fans.   

The companies adidas and PUMA were founded by the brothers Rudolf and Adi Dassler in the 1940s. Until they separated and went their own ways, they both owned a factory called “Gebrüder Dassler Sportschuhfabrik” where they together manufactured sports shoes – quite successfully as the world records of Jesse Owens proved. In the last decades, adidas and PUMA became worldwide leading brands. Both companies are still based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.  

Today at Tembelihle High School in Khayelitsha students gathered round to watch their two top teams play a seven-a-side soccer match in recognition of Peace Day. Tembelihle High School is one of over 30 schools participating in the One Day One Goal initiative in South Africa. Initiated by the Umtapo Peace Center in Durban–the largest and most accomplished Peace center in South Africa–the schools were encouraged to sign up to play soccer matches in recognition of peace.  

The Tembelihle High School team ready to play

The Captains of each team with the One Day One Goal football

Students play seven-a-side game on the pitch at Thembelihle High School

PUMA Ukraine, Ukrainian celebrities and renowned radio network GALA used the power of football to spread the message of Peace One Day by playing a One Day One Goal match. The football match took place in Kyiv on September 20, a day before Peace Day, and was supported by the local United Nations office.

puma.peace awarded thirty South African schools with puma.peace One Day One Goal game kits at the annual Steve Biko International Peace Awards in Durban, South Africa on Saturday September 19. Leading up to the International Day of Peace on September 21, these awards are the central annual event in recognition of peace in South Africa. Initiated by the Umtapo Peace center, the awards bring together peace initiatives from around the country in recognition of their achievements.

PUMAVision coordinator Claire Breukel announces schools to be awarded One Day One Goal kits at the Steve Biko Peace Awards. Photo credit Andre Smith

The Steve Biko International Peace Awards are part of a week of peace activities. Between 18 and 24 September,  the Umtapo Centre’s Peace Programme reaches out to 75 Peace Clubs in schools around the country as well as three satellite Peace Youth Centres. puma.peace and the Umtapo Peace Center have partnered to aid schools commited to playing One Day One Goal soccer games throughout the week awarding game kits for students.

Ms. Ntsiki Biko announcing the winner of the 2009 Steve Biko Peace Award

Recipients of puma.peace One Day One Goal game kits. Photo credit Andre Smith

It will be a historic hand shake: In support of the peace initiative PEACE ONE DAY the two sportswear companies adidas and PUMA will shake hands for the first time after six decades. As a sign of amicable cooperation, employees of both companies will play football together on Peace Day, 21 September, and subsequently watch the movie “The Day after Peace” by Jeremy Gilley, director and founder of PEACE ONE DAY. These events will be the first joint activities of both companies since their founders Rudolf and Adi Dassler left their shared firm and established adidas and PUMA.

The joint initiative aims at raising awareness for PEACE ONE DAY and the necessity of peaceful cohabitation. adidas and PUMA will also take the message and idea of PEACE ONE DAY into the football stadiums in Munich and Stuttgart through surprise highlights during the halftimes of the German premier league games FC Bayern Munich - 1. FC Nuremberg and VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Köln on 19 September.

Herbert Hainer, CEO of adidas AG and Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA

„We at adidas are very proud to support PEACE ONE DAY together with PUMA. We firmly believe that sport can bring the world together. Sport has shown this at countless occasions in the past and we are committed to the positive values found in sport: performance and passion, teamwork and fair play,” said Herbert Hainer, CEO of adidas AG. “I am looking very much forward to our adidas and PUMA football match and I hope that our joint initiative helps to raise further awareness for PEACE ONE DAY around the world.”

Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA, said: „We are uniting on this day as a commitment to Peace Day.  Our common goal being that our collaboration today will help create awareness for the day. Kofi Annan once said that ‘individuals can make a difference and collectively we can make a major contribution’. I believe that is the case also for companies. And our unity, in support of Peace Day, is a small step in a positive direction as well as an expression of the united power of sport in a world which we are all responsible for.”

The companies adidas and PUMA were founded by the brothers Rudolf and Adi Dassler in the 1940s. Until they separated and went their own ways, they both owned a factory called “Gebrüder Dassler Sportschuhfabrik” where they together manufactured sports shoes – quite successfully as the world records of Jesse Owens proved. In the last decades, adidas and PUMA became worldwide leading brands. Both companies are still based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.