The FA has organized a Diwali celebration at Wembley in November 2024

We held our final Faith and Football event at Wembley Stadium, with a Diwali celebration. earlier this month.

Known as the “Festival of Lights,” more than 200 guests were in attendance at the National Stadium on Thursday, November 14, who were greeted upon arrival by Kirtan music, traditionally performed by an all-male band.

Our hosts for the evening were Neha Navekar and Ankur Desai, who opened the event with a welcome before the lighting of the Deep-pragatya candles.

Examples of some of the work being done in football and within the Hindu community were then presented to the public, such as the Neasden Temple Football Project and Tottenham Hotspur’s Reach Fan Group.

A panel featuring FSA’s Nilesh Chauhan, Tottenham Hotspur and former England women’s development coach Manisha Tailor, former Newcastle and Cardiff City striker Michael Chopra and former Arsenal player Jimmy Carter then took the stage to talk about their experiences and their faith.

Guests were then treated to an appearance by England legends John Barnes and Anita Asante before heading to the stadium for the next part of the evening.

Following a cultural performance from Neasden Temple, Sanjay Bhandari, Chairman of Kick It Out, gave a speech to lead the way for pitchside prayers.

The evening concluded with food served to all guests before our hosts closed what was another successful church event in the land of football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/NJ4yBHvlEmQ

“The FA have been working with Neasden Temple for a few years, and previously we always went to their iconic venue, but I had always promised the team at Neasden Temple that we should come to Wembley Stadium,” said Dal Darroch, our manager of strategic diversity and inclusion programs.

“It has been great to see the two organizations whose buildings are symbols of the Wembley area and the Brent area come together at the stadium of English football.

“In many ways, it’s a dream come true for both of us, the Faith in Football team and the Neasden Temple team, to bring the organizations together.

“We know that people have very strong identities – and particularly those from South Asian communities, whether Sikh, Muslim, Hindu or Jain – so what better way to celebrate the contribution of a particular community than with his faith and his connection to football.

“As you saw today, we have brought together people of different heritages who are representatives of the game in various roles such as coaches or former players. It’s a great way to build connections within football, increase the number of people who play or are involved in the game in any way, and also celebrate who they are and what their identity is by terms of faith.

“Tonight was really special because everything went so well and the Neasden Temple contributions – such as decorations, prayers, organization and effort – from the many people, including the volunteers involved , were fantastic.”