From Guerrillas to Athletes: Colombia’s FARC to Form Soccer Club for Peace

The Marxist-Leninist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, and the Colombian government are hoping that the transformative power and passion of sport will assist in the efforts to fulfill a comprehensive national peace deal. That's the idea behind a new proposal that will see former combatants in the decades-long revolutionary war heal through friendly soccer competition.

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Former FARC guerillas and other fighters and civilians who bore the brunt of the conflict will be forming a new soccer club known as La Paz FC, or Peace Football Club. The idea was the fruit of discussions between FARC and an NGO called the Peace and Football Foundation, which seeks to educate youth about their social rights and civic responsibilities through athletics.

The initiative, conceived in Havana during last year's peace talks, is a part of a post-conflict project backed by the government and FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño, known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko." The NGO and FARC hope that the soccer squadron will eventually be able to take part in Colombian Football Federation tournaments as well as the equivalent women's professional league.

“I knew that in addition to the ideological and military wing, FARC has the capacity to develop a sports wing,” lawyer and human rights expert Felix Mora Ortiz, the head of the project, told Colombian newspaper El Espectador. “There are boys among the guerillas who like the idea and are ready to built these teams,” he added, noting that by 2018 the selection process should be complete.

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Mora and officials from FARC and the government hope that the idea won't just potentially turn the ex-fighters into football stars, but will also strengthen ties with the Colombian people in general and communities most affected by the conflict, specifically.

"We want FARC fighters making the transition to civilian life to join forces with victims in a soccer club, and compete professionally,” ex-guerilla and signatory to the agreement, Walter Mendoza, told El Espectador.

"We want the universe of eight million victims left by Colombia's armed conflict to have sports representation through La Paz FC," Mora said.

Talks are ongoing with authorities in Apulo, west of Bogota, to begin matches at the newly-opened La Paz stadium.