Recap of European Football Works Festival in Serbia 

Recap of European Football Works Festival in Serbia 

The 8th edition of the Football Works Tournament took place on September 13th, 2024, in the Penitentiary Institution of Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia. The tournament is part of the broader Football Works Festival, and it is organised by the European Football for Development Network (EFDN) in collaboration with KPZ Sremska Mitrovica, Dienst Justitiële Instellingen, and Werk via Sport. This initiative seeks to utilise the power of football to aid in the reintegration of vulnerable groups, including prisoners, into the labour market.  

After seven successful editions being organised in the Netherlands, it was the first time the event took place outside the country. Six teams participated in European Football Works Festival, four of them coming from abroad and two teams formed by the inmates of local Prison of Sremska Mitrovica, the biggest Penitentary Institution in the Balkan:  

1. KPZ Sremska Mitrovica Team 1 (Serbia)  

2. KPZ Sremska Mitrovica Team 2 (Serbia)  

3. Valerenga Fotball (Norway)  

4. The Saints Foundation (England)  

5. FC Emmen (Netherlands)  

6. Dienst Justitiele Inrichtingen – Werk via Sport (Netherlands)  

The Football Works project aims to provide support for current inmates to prepare them for release and reintegrate them into society and the labour market. The consortium aims to achieve this by using the social value of sports, particularly football, alongside educational and employability workshops, to best develop the required skills and build confidence.  

To achieve the project objectives, the project utilises a unique methodology, that, if proven successful, can be replicated across Europe. The Football Works Methodology presents a three-step path towards preparing inmates across Europe for their reintegration after release to the labour market through a collaborative effort of health-enhancing and employability projects. This methodology will be tested and delivered throughout Europe to validate its success and to establish a truly European methodology.  

“We proudly state that our institution has been a partner in this project since 2023, and so far, more than 25 convicts have successfully completed the programme. The idea behind this project is to use sports, specifically football activities, as a catalyst for change among convicts to reduce recidivism rates.”   

Aleksander Alimpić, Warden of the Penitentiary Institution Sremska Mitrovica.  

The Prison of Sremska Mitrovica has been actively implementing specialised programmes targeting various critical aspects of convicts’ lives through group work since 2022. These programmes, developed in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the OSCE, focus on group work with alcoholics, drug addicts, perpetrators of violent crimes, and domestic violence offenders. Moreover, their contribution to resocialisation is also noticeable through a specialised programme based on interaction with dogs, which encourages the development of functional behaviour, responsibility, motivation, and decision-making readiness among convicts.     

The Football Works Festival in Serbia included two main events – a football tournament and a conference. Hence, there were not only football teams at the FWF, but also external parties interested in attending workshops, following the tournament or learning more about the Football Works project.  

Two workshops were organised, one by RESTART, which deals with the prevention of addiction diseases, various support programmes for psychoactive substance addicts and their families and crime prevention, mentoring and post-penal support programmes for convicted and ex-convicts.   

As part of its work activities, the RESTART Association has developed very good cooperation with the Sremska Mitrovica Penitentiary as part of the Mentoring Programme for convicted persons and preparations for post-penal programmes to support ex-convicted persons.  

The other workshop, of Help Serbia, initialising a resocialisation programme to improve penal and post penal conditions in the Western Balkan country’s prison system back in 2014. Support measures were created in close cooperation with the relevant ministries and prison administrations of the respective countries. The programme aims to improve prison conditions, treatment and thus resocialisation of prisoners. The emphasis was on building up and preserving the prisoner’s work habits and becoming qualified workers in the labour market without stigma.  

Back to the pitch where the entire festival took place within a designated area inside the prison walls. While upon arrival in Serbia the weather was extremely sunny, the players had to deal with a lot of rain during the day of the tournament. This didn’t stop them showing their technical skills, scoring many goals and sharing great sportsmanship.  

There were some high scores but also some really tight and intense games, with in the end the home team of Sremska Mitrovica 1 winning the tournament before DJI, Werk via Sport Team from the Netherlands.  

After the day programme the teams had dinner together and a fun football pub quiz all organised by the excellent staff of KPZ Sremska Mitrovica. EFDN would like to thank all members of the organisation, staff and players of participating teams for their commitment and wonderful involvement to make this European Football Works Festival such a success!  

The European Football Works Festival got also a lot of coverage by national and local media from Serbia, find here some links to the related media outings. 

Television

• N1Info

• 24 Sedam

• Ozon

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