UEFA, football’s governing body are to mark the historic 1914 Christmas football truce match where in World War 1 soldiers, both German and Allied, laid down their weapons and held an impromptu football match between the trenches in no man’s land, in Flanders to celebrate Christmas, bringing a few moments of friendship amid the horror of the trenches.
As we commemorate 100 years since the start of World War 1, a monument to mark what UEFA called a “rare and extraordinary moment of peace and human fraternity, when football emerged as the only common language among men of different nationalities” will be unveiled in Comines-Warneton, the Belgian town where the match took place.
Michael Platini, UEFA chief, has invited leaders from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy, plus the heads of the national football associations, to take part in the commemoration which will be held on December 17th
The former France international said “This remembrance ceremony pays homage to the soldiers who, a century ago, expressed their humanity by coming together to play football, thereby opening an important chapter in the construction of European unity and serving as an example for today’s young people to follow,”
A remembrance service will also be held in nearby Ypres, which was the epicentre of some of the bloodiest and most futile battles of the war.
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