FIFA inaugurates Alexandra as hope festival host

World football governing body FIFA inaugurated the South African township Alexandra, as the host site of the Football for Hope Festival on Thursday.

A child plays with a soccer ball at the launch of 'Football  For Hope' in Alexandra Township north of Johannesburg, Thursday,  March 25, 2010. The Football for Hope programme is a soccer  tournament for underprivileged boys and girls from 32 countries  that will run during the FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament(AP Photo/ Denis Farrell)

For the first time in the history of the Football for Hope Festival, which will run between July 4 and 10, FIFA has partnered with the global umbrella organisation Streetfootballworld projects to use the world's most watched sporting spectacle to promote the project by running alongside the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The 32 teams that will take part in the festival are made up of players from underprivileged communities in 40 countries. Teams represent organisations from around the world that use the power of football to deal with social issues, such as ethnic violence in Israel and Palestine, pollution in the slums of Nairobi, and HIV/Aids education in South Africa.