Pupils from more than 110 orphanages from all over Russia took part in the tournament “The Future Depends on You”

The final of the all-Russian charity football tournament for children from orphanages, “The Future Depends on You,” took place in Sochi.

The final brought together more than 130 athletes aged 11–15 years from 13 regions of Russia. The project was supported by the Russian national team, leading clubs and volunteers of MegaFon, which initiated the tournament more than 20 years ago.

In the junior group, the team “Shkid” won (penalty shootout), in the senior group – “Proryv” (Kirov region), repeating the success of last season. The best players: Sergei Antonov (Proryv) and Nikolai Ovcharenko (Rubin, Transbaikalia). The winners got the chance to train with Russian national team players and attend a friendly match of the national team.

In total, more than two thousand young athletes took part in two stages: 253 teams from 110 orphanages in 49 regions. The guys scored 931 goals. The most productive match of the final was “Spread your Wings” (Orlovskaya) against “Vityazi” (Leningradskaya) – 11:0. The top scorer in the senior group is Evgeny Kuznetsov (12 goals). At the end of the regional stage, Yekaterinburg scored 82 goals, St. Petersburg – 32. This year there were noticeably more girls: for example, the Inter (Saratov) and Mechta (Omsk) teams had a half-mixed composition.

In addition to football, the participants visited Sochi Park, played eSports (FIFA), and attended the RFU’s young referee school. As in previous years, each team had its own press attaché made up of children from orphanages: 63 schoolchildren learned their profession at master classes from sports journalists. The three most active are Miroslav Vasiliev (Tverskaya), Ivan Vakurov (Primorsky Territory), Arina Shchetnikova (Moscow). The All-Russian reference and gaming service for career guidance for teenagers conducted classes for 616 people.

“For children from orphanages, such projects are an opportunity to feel confident in their own abilities, gain important life experience and see horizons… Sometimes one chance, received on time, can determine the whole future,” said Alexey Smertin, director of the department of sustainable development and social responsibility of the RFU, ex-captain of the Russian national team.

Players of the Zenit football club Denis Adamov and Igor Diveev expressed their words of support to the athletes and presented the participants with T-shirts autographed by the team players. In addition, in Sochi, the guys were able to meet other famous athletes: Russian champion and 2014 World Cup participant Andrei Eshchenko and FC Sochi player Kirill Kravtsov personally talked to the young athletes, held an autograph session and took part in the award ceremony.

“The project evokes in me sincere and sincere emotions, which are so lacking in life. Here every child has a chance to become a professional. I also grew up in a boarding school, but I played football, no matter what, and reached the Russian national team. Therefore, nothing is impossible,” Andrey Eshchenko shared his impressions.

“For 20 years, our project has proven: this is the path for thousands of children to their dreams. The awards that the tournament has already received confirm the importance of the work, but the main thing is to see how the guys open up: scoring goals, mastering professions at master classes, taking autographs from legends and gaining self-confidence,” commented Roman Ermolenko, director of corporate development and personnel management at MegaFon.

The first tournament was organized by MegaFon in 2005 in St. Petersburg (39 teams from 23 orphanages). The winners then went to London for the Chelsea – Manchester United match. Since 2009, the project has become federal. In 2017, the winners were invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin to a Confederations Cup match. In 2018, the first World Cup among orphans was held (24 teams from 21 countries). In 2023, the project received the “Company of the Future” award, in 2024 – the INTERCOMM and “#We Are Together” awards.