We hosted our latest Faith and Football event at Wembley Stadium, with a celebration of Diwali taking place earlier this month.
Known as the ‘Festival of Lights’ there were over 200 guests at the national stadium on Thursday 14 November, who were greeted on arrival by Kirtan music which is traditionally performed by an all-male group.
Our hosts on the evening were Neha Navekar and Ankur Desai, who opened the event with a welcome before the Deep-pragatya candle-lighting took place.
Examples of some of the work taking place across football and within the Hindu community was then presented to the audience, such as the Neasden Temple Football Project and Tottenham Hotspur’s Reach Fan Group.
A panel featuring Nilesh Chauhan from the FSA, Tottenham Hotspur and former England women’s development coach Manisha Tailor, former Newcastle and Cardiff City striker Michael Chopra and ex Arsenal player Jimmy Carter then took to the stage to talk through their experiences and faith.
The guests were then treated to a guest appearance from England legends John Barnes and Anita Asante before moving out to the stadium bowl for the next section of the evening.
Following a cultural performance from Neasden Temple, there was a speech from Sanjay Bhandari, who is the Chair of Kick It Out to lead into the pitchside prayers.
The evening drew to a close with food served to all guests before our hosts closed what was another successful faith event at the home of football.
“The FA has been working with Neasden Temple for the last few years, and previously we’ve always gone to their iconic venue, but I’d always promised the Neasden Temple team that we would have to come to Wembley Stadium,” said Dal Darroch, our head of diversity and inclusion strategic programmes.
“It’s been brilliant to see the two organisations with buildings that are landmarks of the Wembley area and Brent region come together at the home of English football.
“In many ways it’s a dream come true for both of us from the Faith in Football team and the Neasden Temple team to bring the organisations together.
“We know that people have really strong identities – and especially those from South Asian communities whether they’re Sikh, Muslim, Hindus or Jain – so what better way to celebrate the contribution of a particular community than with their faith and connection to football.
“As you’ve seen today, we’ve brought together people with different heritages that are representatives of the game in various roles such as coaches or ex-players. It’s a great way to find connections within football, increase the number of people that are playing or involved in the game in any way, shape or form, and also celebrate who they are and what their identity is in terms of their faith.
“Tonight has been really special because it’s all gone so well and the contributions of Neasden Temple – such as the decorations, prayers, organisation and effort – from the sheer number of people including volunteers involved have been fantastic.”
