UN Ambassadors face off in fundraising soccer diplomatch

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be in a crowd of supporters cheering on two teams of United Nations Ambassadors in New York this evening as they forget diplomacy and go head-to-head using only their football skills in a fundraising soccer match.

UN ambassadors will shed their suits and ties for football boots and shorts in a bid to raise money and awareness for Play31, an organization founded on the basis of Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which stipulates that every child has the right to play.

Play31 provides children in countries torn apart by armed conflict with the basic necessity for play, a football, in the belief that “the beautiful game” has the unifying power to create peaceful societies.

The Ambassador of Chile Heraldo Muñoz and the Ambassador from Liechtenstein Christian Wenaweser will lead out teams made up of their counterparts from Bosnia, Timor Leste, Paraguay and the United Kingdom, among several other nations, at Pier 40, Courtyard West at West Houston Street and Clarkson Street.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, will get the match underway at 7:30pm.