Eighteen young people aged 13 and 14 from the Holy Land spent a week in San Marino in the name of football and encounter. Six Jews, six Muslim Palestinians and six Christian Palestinians took part, from 23 to 29 August, in the 2026 edition of “A Football for Peace”, an initiative that combined training sessions, matches, visits and moments of shared everyday life.
“Before becoming an agreement, peace must become a human experience” is the message chosen by UPF Italy to describe the San Marino experience. Football served as the first point of contact between young people with different backgrounds and identities.
Part of the programme took place on the pitch, with training sessions and a friendly match in Domagnano against San Marino Academy Under-14. “On the field you need to find a teammate, pass him the ball, coordinate, deal with a mistake and get back into the game,” the newsletter reads. The meeting with young people from San Marino thus extended the experience to their peers from the Titano as well.
The week, however, was not limited to sport. Dialogue sessions, visits, recreational activities and shared meals filled out the stay. According to UPF, it was precisely these moments that allowed participants to get to know one another beyond the football pitch and to build the foundations for new relationships.
Among the stories told is that of Ili and Muhammad, friends even before arriving on the Titano. At first Muhammad did not speak Hebrew, and the two communicated using a few words of English and Google Translate. Over time, Muhammad learned Hebrew and Ili picked up some Arabic, while their families also got to know each other. Muhammad even attended his friend’s Bar Mitzvah.
In San Marino, their friendship reached a new milestone. During the match against the local team, Ili scored, and Muhammad leapt on him in celebration. The programme’s coordinator also revealed that the two had decided to make the trip together, agreeing that neither would go without the other.
The initiative was promoted and organised by UPF San Marino together with UPF Israel, under the patronage of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and Industry and Sport, with the collaboration of the San Marino Football Federation for the sporting and technical aspects.
The programme concluded with a meeting at Palazzo Pubblico with the Captains Regent, who received the delegation. At the end of the week, the young people returned to their respective families and cities. “In San Marino, though, they had concrete opportunities to share play and everyday life,” UPF noted in summing up the experience.
