Press Release. Save the date: Global Goals World Cup Finals Return to New York City, with Game of Thrones Actor as Head Referee.

What: Sport meets advocacy in this highly entertaining Street Soccer event where twenty four teams of inspiring women from five continents compete to win the Five-a-Side Global Goals World Cup trophy.
To qualify, each team has led a campaign of advocacy and action for their favourite UN Global Goal, and they compete by a unique set of rules that decides games based on action, mobilization, style and soccer skills.
Celebrity referees, DJ’s and high level addresses are mixed in with the fast paced games.

The event is hosted in partnership by Danish sports organisation Eir Soccer, UNDP, The Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN, Save the Children, GAIN, UN Women, The Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth and the NYC Mayors Office for International Affairs.

Where: Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY 

When: Tuesday September 19th. 3.30 pm-8.00pm
Media Zone from 3.30 at event site.

Available for interviews:
Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Nobel Peace Prize nominee from Uganda, Victor Ochen. (Nikolaj and Victor will also referee games) Artist Olafur Eliasson. From Eir Soccer: Founders of Global Goals World Cup, (Winner of IOC Women in sport trophy 2016) Majken Gilmartin & Rikke Ronholt, Additional high level participants to be released shortly. closer to date. 

High level Opening Addresses: 4.30 pm
Games kick off: 5.00 pm
Finals: 7.45 pm

Who it playing?
Teams of women from GANNI, Maternity Foundation, Moving the Goal Posts (Winners from Nairobi tournament flying in). In Style Magazine, BIG Architects, Karla Morales Foundation of Ecuador, and many others.
See full team lineup here. http://ggwcup.com/nyc-teams/

About GGWCUP
The GGWCup works to raise awareness and rally communities in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through a world series of powerful soccer events. During the event, teams of adolescent girls and women play to raise awareness of the impact of poverty, inequality and climate change, and encourage progress toward sustainable development across the world. The New York tournament is the global final with players participating from around the world.

Building a World Cup through Unusual Partnerships
The GGWCup is on a mission to create a new type of World Cup, built around unusual multi-sector alliances, driven by a passionate core team of women and men who want to expand the common notion of what a sport event looks like, who participates, and what kind of message it sends. GGWCup aims to become the the inclusive space where amateur women from all over the world meet, play and change the world. 

Co-Founders Majken Gilmartin and Rikke Rønholt
We both grew up in the world of sports and have always appreciated the value it brought to our lives. But we realized that we shared a longing to see sport play a more prominent role as a driver of change and progress in society. In some ways, sport has failed to evolve with time, and is functioning much like it did over a hundred years ago. One of the significant differences back then was that women did not participate in sport. So we asked ourselves: If women had been the original co-creators of sport, how might it have looked different?  

Uniting sport with fashion, art and development: The Global Goals World Cup tournaments aim to embrace the intersection between fashion, art, development policy and sport. This happens through the diversity of the teams and the unique partnerships.

One example of these types of unusual partnerships is the collaboration with fashion brand GANNI, who have designed a support t-shirt, which will raise funds to allow more women from low-income countries to participate in the events.

GANNI
“This project is very close to my heart. In my teens I was an avid soccer player, and throughout my career I have been working in an industry surrounded by strong and aspirational women, so being able to support women’s rights and gender equality through my love of soccer is a match made in heaven.”

-       Ditte Reffstrup, Creative Director GANNI

http://www.ganni.com/da/content?g=g&cid=ganni-global-goals-togetherness

Partnership with UNDP and the role of Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Despite the many advances in combating poverty, conflict and corruption, women and children in many countries still face economic disparity, physical and emotional abuse, violence, discrimination and a lack of opportunities. They are also often the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. By leveraging voices such as Coster-Waldau’s, UNDP aims to rally public support to address these issues. During a press conference last fall following his appointment as their newest Goodwill Ambassador, he affirmed,

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
“My main mission as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador will be to raise awareness and support for the Global Goals for a better future for all, which cannot be achieved without empowering women and protecting our planet”. 

For more information and updates go to the Event Page

For one on One interview requests and additional questions:
Contact Rikke Ronholt rr@eirsoccer.com
High res images. Additional available on request
Nikolaj Coster Waldau 
Moving the Goal Posts, Winning team from Nairobi tournament 
Founders Majken Gilmartin and Rikke Ronholt in Nairobi

Hosts and Supporting partners: