Hope League: rebuild the social cohesion and promote coexistence in northeastern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan.

NOVACT, the Barça Foundation, La Caserna Football School, Un Ponte Per, DOZ International, IDare and Casa Nostra Casa Vostra are launching a community football initiative to strengthen collective bonds, foster coexistence among communities, and prevent conflict and radicalisation processes through sport.

The Hope League will run from June 2025 to October 2026, and will establish community football schools in six locations: Kobane, Hassakeh, Raqqa and Tiberspiye (Syria), and Erbil and Suleimaniya (Iraqi Kurdistan). The project aims to promote social cohesion through sport, focusing especially on children and adolescents aged 8 to 14, with special attention to girls, displaced people, ethnic minorities and rural communities.

A model of intervention for peace and global justice

NOVACT leads the integration of a human rights, nonviolence and gender approach into the project’s methodological and training design. The Hope League is built as an alternative to the competitive model of sport, promoting values such as teamwork, equality and cooperation through football.

The project is structured around three main lines of action:

• Research and development of an innovative intervention model in post-conflict contexts through sport, drawing from La Caserna’s and the Barça Foundation’s SportNet methodologies.

• Training of trainers and strengthening of local grassroots organisations, with a special focus on community and female leadership.

• Implementation of self-managed football schools as spaces of coexistence and collective resilience, including regular sessions and two major community events planned for early 2026.

The project kicked off with a joint mission to Syria and Iraq in April 2025, where educational tools and methodologies were shared. Oleguer Presas, former FC Barcelona player and member of La Caserna, took part by leading training sessions for future coaching teams.

A pilot with a future vision

Supported by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, the Hope League is conceived as a replicable pilot for other conflict-affected areas where rebuilding community ties is essential. The goal is to develop a sustainable, locally adapted model that places peace and dignity at its core.

More than 600 children and young people are expected to participate regularly in the schools, with gender parity and ethnic representation criteria. The registration process combines open enrolment with targeted outreach to ensure the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups.